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waders and their estuarine food supplies - Vlaams Instituut voor de ...

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July ' Aug ' Sept<br />

Fig. 9. Proportion of Macoma accessible to Knot Calidris caniiius.<br />

i.e. prev living in the upper 2 cm (dark shadingi <strong>and</strong> upper .1 cm<br />

(dark + light shading i ol ihe substrate: measurements laken in the<br />

study area Irom 1980 lo I9S6 ibased on ZwartS & Wamnk 1989),<br />

creased during the season (Fig. 9). However, there<br />

were also consi<strong>de</strong>rable differences among years in<br />

<strong>de</strong>pth distribution. In 1984, the majority of prey remained<br />

within reach of the bill until October, whereas<br />

in 1980 <strong>and</strong> 1986. Macoma were beyond reach of the<br />

bill from August onwards. The accessible fraction<br />

therefore <strong>de</strong>creased gradually over the course of the<br />

season, but 1985 was an exception since Macoma lived<br />

at a greater <strong>de</strong>pth in August than in September.<br />

Figure 10 shows the <strong>de</strong>crease in biomass of Macoma<br />

harvestable by Knot. This figure combines the<br />

measurements of prey <strong>de</strong>nsity (Fig. 4). prev weight<br />

(Fig. 8) <strong>and</strong> the proportion of prey actually within<br />

VARIATION IN FOOD SUPPLY OF KNOT<br />

297<br />

reach of Knot (Fig. 9). Figure 10 also shows when<br />

Knot occurred in the study sue in the different years. It<br />

is evi<strong>de</strong>nt that the numbers of Knot feeding were<br />

closely related to the annual variation in biomass of<br />

Macoma harvestable by Knot.<br />

10 COUNTS<br />

'985<br />

July ' Aug ' Sept ' Oct ' Nov<br />

Fig. 10. Biomass ,,| 1/,/. ,mui (g AFDW m 2 of individuals 6 lo 16<br />

mm long living in the upper 2 tan) harvestable by Knol Calidris<br />

animus al site N. <strong>and</strong> occurrence of Knot in Ihe study area during<br />

late summer <strong>and</strong> autumn of 1980 to I9H6.

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