The Dutch Wadden Sea, due to a decline in food resources, may become a bottleneck in the annual cycle of a wading bird known as the knot.
This has been revealed by PhD research by Casper Kraan. He studied two subspecies of the knot, the Calidris canutus islandica and the Calidris canutus canutus.
"It appears that neither species is able to fatten up properly in the Wadden area any more," says Kraan. He conducted his research at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) and will be awarded a PhD by the University of Groningen on 26 April 2010.
The islandica breeds on the Canadian and Greenland tundra and then flies to the Wadden area to overwinter. The canutus breeds in Siberia and uses the Wadden Sea to fatten up for the last stage to western Africa. Kraan: "Although the two subspecies have different strategies, they have the same problem -- declining food resources."
Lees meer: Science Daily
This has been revealed by PhD research by Casper Kraan. He studied two subspecies of the knot, the Calidris canutus islandica and the Calidris canutus canutus.
"It appears that neither species is able to fatten up properly in the Wadden area any more," says Kraan. He conducted his research at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) and will be awarded a PhD by the University of Groningen on 26 April 2010.
The islandica breeds on the Canadian and Greenland tundra and then flies to the Wadden area to overwinter. The canutus breeds in Siberia and uses the Wadden Sea to fatten up for the last stage to western Africa. Kraan: "Although the two subspecies have different strategies, they have the same problem -- declining food resources."
Lees meer: Science Daily
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