Variation in the seasonal water level fluctuations of tropical and subtropical wetlands controls the production and concentration of aquatic fauna that support breeding wading birds. However, little is known about how particular components of the annual hydrologic cycle affect processes that control food availability and reproduction. This thesis identifies specific mechanisms responsible for transforming wet season prey standing stock into dry season prey concentrations, links landscape hydrological patterns to wading bird nesting, and presents a predictive model of Wood Stork nesting. I examined the supoort for several a priori hypotheses of factors affecting wading bird prey concentrations and wading bird nest effort. Factors affecting the concentration and vulnerability of prey were important for transferring secondary production to higher trophic levels. Receding water levels, microtopographic variation, and high standing stocks of prey were critical for generating pulses of food availabiltiy to meet the high energy requirements of breeding predatory birds. / by Bryan A. Botson. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012 / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fau.edu/oai:fau.digital.flvc.org:fau_4006 |
| Contributors | Botson, Bryan A., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Biological Sciences |
| Publisher | Florida Atlantic University |
| Source Sets | Florida Atlantic University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | xiii, 102 p. : ill. (some col.), electronic |
| Rights | http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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