Spring diet and energy intake of tundra swan ( Cygnus columbianus ) at the Yellow River National Wetland in Baotou, China

PeerJ

article

Li Liu¹  Chao Du¹  Yan Sun¹  Wenjing Li¹  Jiyun Zhang¹  Litong Cao¹  Li Gao¹ 

[1] Faculty of Biological Science and Technology, Baotou Teachers’ College

关键词: Tundra swan;    Yellow River National Wetland;    Diet analysis;    Energy supply;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.13113

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

The Yellow River National Wetland in Baotou, China is an important resting and energy replenishment place for many migratory birds, such as tundra swan (Cygnus columbianus). The energy supply of food available at stopover sites plays an important role in the life cycle of migratory birds. In order to understand diet composition and energy supply of tundra swans for further protection of them, in this study, fecal of tundra swans (C. columbianus) were collected and fecal microhistological analysis was conducted to analyze the feeding habits and the energy supply. Results showed that: (1) tundra swans (C. columbianus) mainly fed on twelve species of plants from five families, including corn (Zea mays), quinoa (Chenopodium album) and rice (Oryza sativa), this is related to local crops and abundant plants. (2) The energy provided by crops to tundra swans (C. columbianus) was significantly higher than other abundant plants in wetlands (P < 0.05), corn and rice were the most consumed food, and other abundant wetland plants play complementary roles. (3) The daily energy intake of tundra swans (C. columbianus) was much higher than their daily energy consumption, the daily net energy intake of tundra swans (C. columbianus) was 855.51 ± 182.88 kJ (mean ± standard deviations). This suggested that the wetland provides energy for continue migrating to the tundra swan (C. columbianus). For further protection of tundra swans (C. columbianus) and other migratory birds, the Baotou Yellow River National Wetland environment and the surrounding farmland habitat should be protected.

【 授权许可】

CC BY