Die Nahrung von Kormoranen (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis) in Bayern

Zusammenfassung Die wachsende Zahl von Kormoranen (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis) in Bayern führte in den letzten Jahren zu erheblichen Konflikten zwischen Fischerei und Naturschutz. Deshalb wurde die Zusammensetzung der Kormorannahrung an verschiedenen Gewässertypen untersucht: Zwei große Voralpenseen (Chiemsee, Ammersee), drei künstlich angelegte Gewässer (Altmühlsee, Baggersee Ochsenanger bzw. Breitengüßbacher Baggersee), zwei freifließende bzw. staugeregelte große Fließgewässer (Donau, Inn) und ein kleineres Fließgewässer (Alz). Insgesamt wurden 4697 Speiballen untersucht. Diese enthielten die Hartteile von 9587 Fischindividuen.Von 50 in den Untersuchungsgewässern vorkommenden Fischarten wurden 24 in den Speiballen der Kormorane angetroffen. Allerdings machten nur 6–10 Arten 89–95% aller gefressenen Fischindividuen aus, wobei in den einzelnen Gewässern lediglich 2–3 Arten mit 57–85% die Hauptbeute darstellten. Am häufigsten wurden Weißfische (Fam. Cyprinidae) in den Speiballen nachgewiesen. An den großen Voralpenseen bildete die Renke (Coregonus spec.) zeitweise einen weiteren wichtigen Nahrungsbestandteil. An Ammersee, Altmühlsee, Donau und Inn wurden häufig auch Barsche (Perca fluviatilis) gefressen, an der Donau auch Kaulbarsche (Gymnocephalus cernua) bzw. Schrätzer (G. schraetzer). Dagegen spielten an der schneller fließenden Alz Äschen (Thymallus thymallus) und Salmoniden (Fam. Salmonidae) eine größere Rolle. Außer an der Alz dominierten an allen Untersuchungsgewässern häufige Schwarmfische. Die Nahrung wies an den Voralpenseen und an der Donau die größte Diversität auf.Die Nahrungszusammensetzung variierte häufig von Monat zu Monat. Diese Fluktuationen weisen auf Verhaltensweisen bzw. horizontale und vertikale Wanderbewegungen der einzelnen Fischarten hin. Häufig zeigen sie auch einen Wechsel der von den Vögeln befischten Habitate auf.Meist wurden Fische mit Körperlängen von 9–28 cm erbeutet. An der schneller fließenden Alz wurden im Mittel größere Fischen gefangen als in allen übrigen Gewässern. Am Ammersee, dem einzigen Gewässer das ganzjährig untersucht werden konnte, wurden in den Sommermonaten kleinere Fische erbeutet als im Winter. Nur wenige Jungfische wurden gefressen. So wiesen lediglich 32 Speiballen (1%) mehr als 20 Fische auf.

---

The food of Cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis) in Bavaria

Summary In Bavaria, an increase in Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis) numbers has lead to increasing conflict between fishermen and conservationists. The diet of cormorants was assessed by examining the contents of oral pellets from seven study sites, thought to be representative of Bavarian waters. These were two large pre-alpine lakes (Chiemsee and Ammersee), a reservoir (Altmühlsee), two gravel pits (Ochsenanger and Breitengüßbacher Baggersee), two uncontrolled or controlled large rivers (Danube and Inn), and a smaller river (Alz). The sample of pellets comprised 2944 collected from these sites in the years 1991–1994 and 1758 from an earlier study (winter 1990/91). Altogether. 9587 individual prey items were found. Of 50 fish species inhabiting the study waters, 24 were found in the pellets of the cormorants, but only 6–10 species accounted for 89–95% by numbers. Moreover. within each site 2 or 3 species predominated by number (57–85%).Most fish remains in pellets were from cyprinids (Cyprinidae) but at times on pre-alpine lakes whitefish (Coregonus spec.) were consumed in numbers. At the lakes Ammersee and Altmühlsee, as well as on the rivers Danube and Inn, cormorants also fed commonly on Perch (Perca fluviatilis), and along the Danube also on Ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernua) and Striped Ruffe (G. schraetzer), respectively. Only at the River Alz, with its faster flow, were Grayling (Thymallus thymallus) and salmonids (Salmonidae) important as cormorant prey. In general, common shoaling fish species dominated the diet of the birds, an exception being the River Alz again. The diet showed highest diversity at the pre-alpine lakes and at the River Danube.There was some seasonal variation in the prey species composition. This was probably caused by fish behaviour and fish movements, which perhaps influenced their vulnerability to cormorant predation. Some variation also suggested birds switched between feeding sites. Cormorants used a wide range of the available prey sizes. Mostly, fish of 9–28 cm in length were taken. At the River Alz, the fish sizes consumed were larger than at all other sites. At Lake Ammersee, the only water studied year-round, larger prey were taken in winter than in summer. In general, few fry were eaten, as only 32 pellets (1%) contained more than 20 individual fish.

     

An experimental test of the effect of predation upon behaviour and trait correlations in the threespine stickleback

Benthic and limnetic threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) are a classic example of ecological speciation. Behavioural and armour divergence between these species has been predicted to be the result of divergent selection driven in part by differential predation from cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki). To experimentally test this prediction, we reared split families of benthic–limnetic hybrids in the presence or absence of trout predation. Our results show that the presence of trout had little effect upon stickleback behaviour. We then compared performance in behavioural assays among stickleback that varied in armour to test if armour morphology correlates with behaviour. Our measurements revealed trait correlations between several behaviours and components of armour morphology. Trout predation did not result in an increased correlation between traits, therefore differential trout predation between benthics and limnetics is unlikely to be the cause of these correlations. The presence of trait correlations in advanced generation hybrids suggests that pleiotropy or linkage between genes underlying behaviour and armour morphology may be greater than previously appreciated.     

Dispersal Behavior, Boldness, and the Link to Invasiveness: A Comparison of Four Gambusia Species

Dispersal is a key element of a species' invasiveness. Although considerable work has addressed how dispersal influences the pattern of spatial spread of invading organisms, few studies investigate whether invasive species are in fact better dispersers than either the species they displace or less successful invaders. Recent work suggests that variation in dispersal may be due to variation in an underlying behavioral trait, boldness. Our study examined the link between dispersal, boldness, and invasiveness by comparing the dispersal characteristics and refuge use of two invasive Gambusia species to two congeners in experimental streams. The streams consisted of a series of pools (no flow) connected to a flowing channel. For each species, small groups of females were released at the middle pool, and their movement and activity were recorded over a 1-h period. We found invasive Gambusia to be more likely to disperse out of the introductory pool, to disperse sooner, to travel a greater distance in the artificial streams, and thus to exhibit greater dispersal tendencies than their close relatives. Among the invasives, Gambusia affinis had a greater dispersal tendency than G. holbrooki. We suspect this result indicates variation in the contribution of dispersal to the relative invasiveness of these species. Certain dispersal measures were correlated to time spent out of refuge, although invasive Gambusia and their relatives did not differ in the predicted manner. These results argue for the greater incorporation of experimental approaches and analyses of behavioral mechanisms in the study of invasive species.