Abstract
Approximately 500,000 shorebirds travel through the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) each spring and fall. During migration, the average 45g shorebird needs to eat approximately 8g of invertebrates per day. While shorebird stopover habitat guidelines for the MAV are based on an expert estimate of 2g of invertebrates/m2, this estimate has not been quantified in Arkansas. Invertebrate biomass available for shorebird foraging was examined on five properties in southeastern Arkansas during spring and fall migration (fall 2010, spring and fall 2011, and spring 2012). Macroinvertebrate biomass was less than the estimated 2 g/m2 in three of the four sampled seasons. Further validation of the expert invertebrate biomass estimate should be undertaken in the other regions of the MAV. These results suggest that current land management of shorebird stopover habitat in southeastern Arkansas is not providing adequate invertebrate forage to reach the current habitat management goals.
Recommended Citation
Aycock, J. E. and Sims, C. G.
(2015)
"Shorebird Foraging Habitat in Southeast Arkansas,"
Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science: Vol. 69, Article 7.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54119/jaas.2015.6901
Available at:
https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol69/iss1/7
