The early shorebird will catch fewer invertebrates on trampled sandy beaches Schlacher, Thomas A., Carracher, Lucy K., Porch, Nicholas, Connolly, Rod M., Olds, Andrew D., Gilby, Ben L., Ekanayake, Kasun B., Maslo, Brooke and Weston, Michael A. 2016, The early shorebird will catch fewer invertebrates on trampled sandy beaches, PLoS One, vol. 11, no. 8, pp. 1-13, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0161905. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads carracher-theearly-2016.pdf Published version application/pdf 9.19MB 123 Title The early shorebird will catch fewer invertebrates on trampled sandy beaches Author(s) Schlacher, Thomas A. Carracher, Lucy K. Porch, Nicholas orcid.org/0000-0001-7179-3843 Connolly, Rod M. Olds, Andrew D. Gilby, Ben L. Ekanayake, Kasun B. Maslo, Brooke Weston, Michael A. orcid.org/0000-0002-8717-0410 Journal name PLoS One Volume number 11 Issue number 8 Start page 1 End page 13 Total pages 13 Publisher Public Library of Science Place of publication San Francisco, Calif. Publication date 2016-08-26 ISSN 1932-6203 Keyword(s) beaches invertebrates birds predation coasts oceans species diversity habitats Science & Technology Multidisciplinary Sciences Science & Technology - Other Topics PLOVERS THINORNIS-RUBRICOLLIS OFF-ROAD VEHICLES HABITAT SELECTION HUMAN DISTURBANCE GHOST CRABS CONSERVATION IMPACTS POPULATION MACROFAUNA Summary Many species of birds breeding on ocean beaches and in coastal dunes are of global conservation concern. Most of these species rely on invertebrates (e.g. insects, small crustaceans) as an irreplaceable food source, foraging primarily around the strandline on the upper beach near the dunes. Sandy beaches are also prime sites for human recreation, which impacts these food resources via negative trampling effects. We quantified acute trampling impacts on assemblages of upper shore invertebrates in a controlled experiment over a range of foot traffic intensities (up to 56 steps per square metre) on a temperate beach in Victoria, Australia. Trampling significantly altered assemblage structure (species composition and density) and was correlated with significant declines in invertebrate abundance and species richness. Trampling effects were strongest for rare species. In heavily trafficked plots the abundance of sand hoppers (Amphipoda), a principal prey item of threatened Hooded Plovers breeding on this beach, was halved. In contrast to the consistently strong effects of trampling, natural habitat attributes (e.g. sediment grain size, compactness) were much less influential predictors. If acute suppression of invertebrates caused by trampling, as demonstrated here, is more widespread on beaches it may constitute a significant threat to endangered vertebrates reliant on these invertebrates. This calls for a re-thinking of conservation actions by considering active management of food resources, possibly through enhancement of wrack or direct augmentation of prey items to breeding territories. Language eng DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0161905 Field of Research 050202 Conservation and Biodiversity Socio Economic Objective 960802 Coastal and Estuarine Flora HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal ERA Research output type C Journal article Copyright notice ©2016, The Authors Free to Read? Yes Use Rights Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30085777 Document type: Journal Article Collections: Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment School of Life and Environmental Sciences Open Access Collection Centre for Integrative Ecology Related Links Link Description Connect to published version Go to link with your DU access privileges     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that permission has been obtained for items included in DRO. If you believe that your rights have been infringed by this repository, please contact drosupport@deakin.edu.au. Versions Version Filter Type Wed, 31 Aug 2016, 06:54:47 EST Sun, 18 Sep 2016, 14:07:01 EST Mon, 19 Sep 2016, 05:00:05 EST Mon, 19 Sep 2016, 08:08:19 EST Mon, 19 Sep 2016, 08:09:28 EST Fri, 30 Sep 2016, 06:09:44 EST Tue, 18 Oct 2016, 12:03:04 EST Tue, 18 Oct 2016, 12:18:27 EST Tue, 18 Oct 2016, 12:19:02 EST Tue, 18 Oct 2016, 13:58:12 EST Mon, 07 Nov 2016, 14:50:10 EST Wed, 09 Nov 2016, 11:51:03 EST Tue, 10 Jan 2017, 09:20:12 EST Fri, 07 Sep 2018, 12:16:50 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 25 times in TR Web of Science Cited 26 times in Scopus Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 411 Abstract Views, 123 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Sun, 18 Sep 2016, 14:07:01 EST

Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that permission has been obtained for items included in DRO. If you believe that your rights have been infringed by this repository, please contact drosupport@deakin.edu.au.