Search results for "Carrion"
showing 4 items of 4 documents
Food predictability determines space use of endangered vultures: implications for management of supplementary feeding.
2013
Understanding space use of free-living endangered animals is key to inform management decisions for conservation planning. Like most scavengers, vultures have evolved under a context of unpredictability of food resources (i.e. exploiting scattered carcasses that are intermittently available). However, the role of predictable sources of food in shaping spatial ecology of vultures has seldom been studied in detail. Here, we quantify the home range of the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), a long-lived raptor which has experienced severe population decline throughout its range and is qualified as endangered worldwide. To this end six adults were tracked by satellite telemetry in Spain d…
Diet and feeding habits of nesting and non-nesting ravens (Corvus corax) on a Mediterranean island (Vulcano, Eolian archipelago)
2003
The almost complete absence of information on the trophic ecology of Corvus corax for Mediterranean areas prompted the present research on the small island of Vulcano. Focal observations allowed us to survey the population, which is divided into four territorial pairs and one non-nesting flock (mean n = 23.6 ± 16.3). This flock roosted preferentially near a rubbish dump. Ravens on Vulcano proved to be omnivorous and to feed upon a wide range of food items, with the differences in diet found to be more quantitative than qualitative and related to the season and to the social system. The flock birds consumed more vegetable matter, carrion of domestic animals, other organic matter (eggshells, …
Burying beetles regulate the microbiome of carcasses and use it to transmit a core microbiota to their offspring
2017
Necrophagous beetles utilize carrion, a highly nutritious resource that is susceptible to intense microbial competition, by treating it with antimicrobial anal and oral secretions. However, how this regulates the carcass microbiota remains unclear. Here, we show that carcasses prepared by the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides undergo significant changes in their microbial communities subsequent to their burial and ‘preparation’. Prepared carcasses hosted a microbial community that was more similar to that of beetles’ anal and oral secretions than to the native carcass community or the surrounding soil, indicating that the beetles regulated the carcass microbiota. A core microbial comm…
Microbiome-assisted carrion preservation aids larval development in a burying beetle
2018
Significance Ephemeral diets such as carrion are high-quality resources that are susceptible to microbial spoilage. Carrion-feeding insects that breed on decaying carcasses must overcome challenges arising from competing microbes. Here we report that a carrion-feeding burying beetle preserves carcasses by regulating its microbial growth, resulting in changes in its biochemical properties including the reduction of toxic polyamines associated with putrefaction and nutrient loss. The beetle’s microbial symbionts form a biofilm-like matrix on carcasses, which is important for optimal larval development. The beetles and their microbiome thus coordinate a specialized adaptive strategy of carrion…