Abstract
Birds are excellent vectors of allochthonous matter and energy due to their high mobility, with more intense flow when waterbirds congregate in breeding colonies, feeding in surrounding aquatic and terrestrial areas, and promoting nutritional pulses to nutrient-poor environments. In southern Brazil, a swamp forest on an estuarine island is used by waterbirds for breeding, providing an opportunity to investigate the potential effects of transport of matter between nutrient-rich environments. Soil, plants, invertebrates, and blood from terrestrial birds were collected and stable isotopes compared to similar organisms in a control site without heronries. Values of δ15N and δ13C from waterbirds were higher in the colony in comparison to the control site (spatial effect). The enrichment of 15N and 13C provided during the active colony period persisted after the breeding period, especially for δ15N, which was higher in all compartments (temporal effect). Moreover, the enrichment of 15N occurred along the entire trophic chain (vertical effect) in the colony environment, including different guilds of invertebrates and land birds. The enrichment in 13C seems to lose strength and was mostly explained by factors such as trophic guild rather than site, especially in birds. Bayesian mixture models with terrestrial vs. estuarine endpoints demonstrated that all organisms from both colony and control environments had assimilated estuarine matter. Finally, detritivorous invertebrates showed greater assimilation when compared to other guilds. This study demonstrates that adjacent nutrient-rich environments, such as palustrine forests and estuaries, are nutritionally enriched in several dimensions from nearby autochthonous subsidies that are maintained throughout the year.
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Acknowledgements
Special thanks are due to the Floristic Laboratory staff at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande—FURG, for identifying the plant species collected. We also thank Aline Barbosa and Saulo Pino for their help in preparing maps. We would also like to thank Márcio Repenning for his help in classifying the range of habitats used by the terrestrial birds collected and Amanda Travessas, Fernanda Valls, Francisco Eliseu, Juliana Gaiotto, Larissa Alvariz and Leonardo Soares for their help in field collection. The authors are grateful to Alexandre M. Garcia and Fátima C. Recalde for comments and careful reading of a previous version.
Funding
This study was funded by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) (Universal No. 422759/2016-3 granted to LB). In addition, it was also financially supported by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) through a MSc Fellowship granted to FCS (process numbers: 88882.443875/2019-01). L. Bugoni is a research fellow from CNPq (grant 311409/2018-0).
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FCS and LB formulated the idea and developed the methodology. FAF and CTB provided methods adjustment advice. FCS, LB, FAF, CTB, and CNF carried out the fieldwork. FCS, LB, and FAF analyzed the data and CTB and CNF offered statistical advice. FCS wrote the manuscript. CTB, CNF, FAF, and LB reviewed and provided contributions to the content and offered editorial advice.
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Caseiro-Silva, F., Faria, F., Barreto, C. et al. Colonial waterbirds provide persistent subsidies to swamp forests along an estuarine island food chain. Oecologia 202, 113–127 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-023-05377-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-023-05377-y