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New publication: Age and origin make the difference

Age and origin make the difference

Populations of trophic generalists may include specialised individuals. Optimal foraging theory states that individuals should feed on those resources most valuable to them. This, however, may vary. White storks are trophic generalists at the population level. Their European population increased wintering in Southern Europe, where they feed upon new anthropogenic food subsidies: dumps and less invasive crayfishes in ricefields. The foraging strategies of resident and wintering storks in SW Spain in were studied ricefields and dumps. Multievent capture-recapture model showed that there were more specialists among residents than immigrants, and that ricefield use increased with individual age. Results provide empirical evidence of high individual foraging consistency within a generalist species and a differential resource selection by individuals of different ages and origins probably related to their previous experience in the foraging area. informacion[at]ebd.csic.es: Sanz-Aguilar et al (2014) Multievent capture-recapture analysis reveals individual foraging specialisation in a generalist species. Ecology. Doi 10.1890/14-0437.1


http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/14-0437.1