Do Eurasian otters Lutra lutra (L.) in the Somerset Levels prey preferentially on non-native fish species?

Fundamental and Applied Limnology

Volumn 172, Issue 4, 2008, Pages 339-347

  Miranda, Rafael ^a   Copp, Gordon H ^b,f   Williams, James ^c   Beyer, Kathleen ^b,d,e   Gozlan, Rodolphe E ^d,f  

^a UNIVERSITY OF NAVARRA   (Spain)

^b CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENT   (United Kingdom)

^c Stoford Manor   (United Kingdom)

^d Winfrith Technology Centre   (United Kingdom)

^e UNIVERSITY OF HULL   (United Kingdom)

^f BOURNEMOUTH UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Alien species; Angling amenity; Biological resistance; Conservation; Cyprinids; Dietary electivities; Dispersal; Food preferences

Indexed keywords

ANGLING; DIET; FISH; FISHERY SURVEY; INTRODUCED SPECIES; MUSTELID; PREY PREFERENCE;

ENGLAND; EURASIA; EUROPE; SOMERSET; SOMERSET LEVELS; UNITED KINGDOM; WESTERN EUROPE;

ANGUILLA ANGUILLA; AVES; CARNIVORA; CYPRINIDAE; CYPRINUS CARPIO; GASTEROSTEUS; GASTEROSTEUS ACULEATUS; LEPOMIS GIBBOSUS; LEUCASPIUS DELINEATUS; LUTRA LUTRA; LUTRINAE; PISCES;

EID: 56149121034     PISSN: 18639135     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1127/1863-9135/2008/0172-0339     Document Type: Article

References (49)

1. Arnold, A. & Längert, H., 1995: Das Moderlieschen: Leucaspius delineatus: Biologie, Haltung und Artenschutz. - Westarp-Wissenschaften, Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg. pp. 1-121.
2. Bekker, D. L. & Nolet, B. A., 1990: The diet of otters Lutra lutra in the Netherlands in winter and early spring. - Lutra 33: 134-144.
3. Beyer, K., Miranda, R., Copp, G. H. & Gozlan, R. E., 2006: Biometric relationships between body and bone size of two invasive non-native fish species in the UK: topmouth gudgeon Pseudorasbora parva and sunbleak Leucaspius delineatus. - Folia Zool. 55: 287-292.
4. Britton, J. R., Pegg, J., Shepherd, J. S. & Toms, S., 2006: Revealing the prey items of the otter Lutra lutra in South West England using stomach contents analysis. - Folia Zool. 55: 167-174.
5. Britton, J. R., Shepherd, J. S., Toms, S. & Simpson, V., 2005: Presence of carp. Cyprinus carpio, in the diet of the otter Lutra lutra. - Fish. Manag. Ecol. 12: 221-223.
6. Brzeziński, M., Romanowski, J., Kopcyzński, Ł. & Kurowicka, E., 2006: Habitat and seasonal variations in diet of otters, Lutra lutra in eastern Poland. - Folia Zool. 55: 337-348.
7. Carss, D. N. & Nelson, K. C., 1998: Cyprinid prey remains in otter Lutra lutra faeces: some words of caution. - J. Zool. 245: 238-244.
8. Chanin, P., 1981: The diet of the otter and its relations with the feral mink in tow areas of Southwest England. - Acta Theriol. 26: 83-95.
9. Chanin, P., 1981: Ecology of the European Otter. - Conserving Natura 2000 Rivers Ecology Series No. 10. English Nature. Peterborough. pp. 1-68.
10. Coles, T. F., Wortley, J. S. & Noble, P., 1985: Survey methodology for fish assessment within Anglian water. - J. Fish Biol. 27 (Suppl. A): 175-186.
11. Conroy, J. W. H., Watt J., Webb, J. B. & Jones, A., 1993: A guide to the identification of prey remains in otter spraint. - Occasional Publication No. 16. The Mammal Society. London. pp. 1-52.
12. Copp, G. H. & Kováč, V., 2003: Biometric relationships between body size and bone lengths in fish prey of the Eurasian otter Lutra lutra: chub Leuciscus cephalus and perch Perca fluvialilis. - Folia Zool. 52: 109-112.
13. Copp, G. H. & Roche, K., 2003: Range and diet of Eurasian otters Lutra lutra (L.) in the catchment of the River Lee (southeast England) since re-introduction. - Aquat. Conserv. 13: 65-76.
14. Cramp, S. & Simmons, K., 1987: Handbook of the Birds of Europe. The Middle East and North Africa. The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Vol. II - Hawks to Bustards. - Oxford University Press. USA. pp. 1-695.
15. Crawford, A., 2003: Fourth Otter Survey of England 2000-2002. - Environment Agency, Bristol. pp. 1-88.
16. de Crespin de Billy, V., Dolédec, S. & Chessel, D., 2000: Biplot presentation of diet composition data: an alternative for fish stomach contents analysis. - J. Fish Biol. 56: 961-973.
17. Erlinge, S., 1969: Food habits of the otter Lutra lutra L. and the mink Mustela vison Schreber in a trout water in southern Sweden. - Oikos 20: 1-7.
18. Esteban, M., Castanet, J. & Sanchiz, B., 1995: Size inferences based on skeletal fragments of the common European frog (Rana temporaria L.). - Herpetol. J. 5: 229-235.
19. Farr-Cox, F., Leonard, S. & Wheeler, A., 1996: The status of the recently introduced fish Leucaspius delineatus (Cyprinidae) in Great Britain. - Fish. Manag. Ecol. 3: 193-199.
20. Garde, J. M. & Escala, M. C. 1996: Morphometric characteristics and relative growth of the water vole, Arvicola sapidus (Rodentia, Arvicolidae). - Folia Zool. 45: 227-236.
21. Gozlan, R. E., Pinder, A. C., Durand, S. & Bass, J., 2003: Could the small size of sunbleak. Leucaspius delineatus (Pisces, Cyprinidae) be an ecological advantage in invading British waterbodies? - Folia Zool. 52: 99-108.
22. Graffelman, J. & Aluja-Banet, T., 2003: Optimal representation of supplementary variables in biplots from principal component analysis and correspondence analysis. - Biomet. J. 45: 491-509.
23. ICES-WGEEL, 2006: Report of the 2006 session of the Joint EIFAC/ICES Working Group on Eels. - International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. EIFAC Occasional Paper No. 38.
24. IUCN, 2003: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 〈www.redlist. org〉
25. Jacobs, J. 1974: Quantitative measurement of food selection. - Oecologia 14: 413-417.
26. Jefferies, D. J., Wayre, P., Jessop, R. M. & Mitchell-Jones, A. J., 1986: Reinforcing the native otter Lutra lutra populations in East Anglia: an analysis of the behaviour and range development of the first release group. - Mam. Rev. 16: 69-79.
27. Kožená, I., Urban, P., Stouracova, I. & Mazuv, I., 1991: The diet of the otter Lutra lutra in the Polana protected landscape region. - Folia Zool. 41: 107-201.
28. Lanszki, J. & Széles, G. L., 2006: Feeding habits of otters living on the moors in the Pannonian ecoregion (Hungary). - Folia Zool. 55: 258-266.
29. Leunda, P. M., Oscoz, J. & Miranda, R., 2006: Length-weight relationships of fishes from tributaries of the Ebro River, Spain. - J. Appl. Ichthyol. 22: 299-300.
30. Lundvall, D., Svanback, R., Persson, L. & Bystrom, P., 1999: Size-dependent predation in piscivores: interactions between predator foraging and prey avoidance abilities. - Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 56: 1285-1292.
31. MAFF, 2000: Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Review. - Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries & Food. London. 1-204.
32. Miranda, R. & Escala, M. C., 2002: Guía de identiticación de restos óseos de los ciprínidos presentes en España. - Serie Zoologica (Publ. Biol. Univ. Navarra) 28: 1-241.
33. _ 2007: On the use of cyprinid scales in the diet analysis of piscivorous species: how much information is hidden in a fish scale? - Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc. 136: 1008-1017.
34. Miranda, R., Garcia-Fresca, C. & Barrachina, P., 2006: Summer prey size selection by European otter Lutra lutra in Mediterranean habitats. - Mammalia 70: 315-318.
35. Moyle, P. B. & Light, T., 1996: Biological invasions of fresh water: Empirical rules and assembly theory. - Biol. Conserv. 78: 149-161.
36. Oscoz, J., Campos, F. & Escala, M. C., 2005: Weight-length relationships of some fish species of the Iberian Peninsula. - J. Appl. Ichthyol. 21: 73-74.
37. Pinder, A. C. & Gozlan, R. E., 2003: Sunbleak and topmouth gudgeon - two new additions to Britain's freshwater fishes. - Brit. Wildl. December. pp. 77-83.
38. Power, M. E., Tilman, D., Estes, J. A., Menge, B. A., Bond, W. J., Mills, L. S., Daily, G., Castilla, J. C., Lubchenco, J. & Paine, R. T., 1996: Challenges in the quest for keystones. - BioScience 46: 609-620.
39. Prenda, J., Arenas, N. P., Freitas, D., Santos Reis, M. & Collares Pereira, M. J., 2002: Bone length of Iberian freshwater fish, as a predictor of length and biomass of prey consumed by piscivores. - Limnetica 21: 15-24.
40. Prenda, J., Clavero, M., Blanco-Garrido, F., Menor, A. & Hermoso, V., 2006: Threats to the conservation of biotic integrity in Iberian fluvial ecosystems. - Limnetica 25: 377-388.
41. Prenda, J. & Granado-Lorencio, C., 1996: The relative influence of riparian habitat structure and fish availability on otter Lutra lutra L. sprainting activity in a small Mediterranean catchment. - Biol. Conserv. 76: 9-15.
42. Roche, K., 2001: Sprainting behaviour diet and foraging strategy of otters (Lutra lutra L.) in the Třeboň Biosphere Reserve (Czech Republic). - PhD thesis, Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. Brno, pp. 1-135.
43. Roche, K., Harris, R., Warrington, S. & Copp, G. H., 1995: Home range and diet of re-introduced European otters Lutra lutra (L.) in Hertfordshire rivers. - Aquat. Conserv. 5: 87-96.
44. Scott, H., 1985: Otters on the Somerset Levels and Moors 1983-84 - Summary of Report. - The Vincent Wildlife Trust. London. 1-23.
45. Taastrom, H.-M. & Jaeobsen L., 1999: The diet of otters (Lutra lutra L.) in Danish freshwater habitats: comparisons of prey fish populations. - J. Zool. 248: 1-13.
46. UK DETR, 2001: Sustaining the variety of life: 5 years of the UK biodiversity Action Plan. - Report of the UK Biodiversity Group to the UK Government, the Scottish Executive, the National Assembly for Wales and the Northern Ireland Executive. - Product Code: 00 WADC 1286, Department of the Environment. Transport and the Regions, London.
47. UK TAG, 2004: Guidance on the assessment of alien species pressures. - Report of the UK Technical Advsiory Group on the Water Framework Directive. (http://wwvv.wfduk.org).
48. Villeneuve, F., Copp, G. H., Fox, M. G. & Stakėnas, S., 2005: Interpopulaton variation in the growth and life history traits of the introduced sunfish, pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus, in Southern England. - J. Appl. Ichthyol. 21: 275-281.
49. Webb, J. B., 1975: Food of the otter (Lutra lutra L.) on the Somerset Levels. - J. Zool. 177: 486-491.