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About this book
Reviews what is known about the behaviour and population ecology of this popular shorebird, from a scientific conservation viewpoint. With the habitats that the bird prefers coming under increasing pressure from human activities, the author suggests the use of field studies to predict how populations will respond to environmental changes, thus playing a useful role in coastal management schemes.
Contents
Introduction; PART I: INDIVIDUAL ADAPTATIONS; 1. Food and feeding behaviour; 2. Prey size selection and intake rate; 3. Specialization; 4. Feeding with other Oystercatchers; 5. Where to feed; 6. How Oystercatchers survive the winter; 7. Why do Oystercatchers migrate?; 8. Life history decisions during the breeding season; 9. Rearing to independence; 10. Haematopus ostralegus in perspective: comparisons with other Oystercatchers; PART II: POPULATION ECOLOGY; 11. Oystercatchers and man in the coastal zone; 12. The carrying capacity of coastal habitats for Oystercatchers; 13. Population dynamics: predicting the consequences of habitat change at the continental scale; Conclusions; References; Index
Customer Reviews
Monograph
Edited By: John D Goss-Custard
442 pages, Figs, tabs
"This species of shorebird is the prime subject for field investigations. . . .This volume gives in-depth overviews of the bird's feeding strategies, winter survival and migration, breeding season biology, population dynamics, and conservation."--Choice
..".[The book has] provided a case study of one species and its prey that contributes to the understanding of general issues in foraging behavior, as well as migration and (to a limited extent) breeding biology....[the book also contributes] towards a synthesis between individuals and populations."--Quarterly Review of Biology
"One of the most thorough and well-integrated multi-authored volumes I have seen. This review of the behavior and population ecology of the Eurasian Oystercatcher contains a cornucopia of detailed information. Indeed, few organisms are known well enough to permit the ambitious and sophisticated analysis attempted in this work. . . . Twenty-five authors from 9 countries combined to produce the books 13 ch