EFFECTS of the INVASIVE EXOTIC APPLE SNAIL (Pomacea Insularum) on the SNAIL KITE (Rostrhamus Sociabilis Plumbeus) in FLORIDA, USA
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
EFFECTS OF THE INVASIVE EXOTIC APPLE SNAIL (Pomacea insularum) ON THE SNAIL KITE (Rostrhamus sociabilis plumbeus) IN FLORIDA, USA By CHRISTOPHER CATTAU A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2008 1 © 2008 Christopher Cattau 2 To Florida 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my committee members (Wiley Kitchens, Phil Darby, and Ken Meyer) for their mentorship, advice, and encouragement. Although not officially on my committee, Julien Martin deserves the same gratitude, as his guidance and instruction, like that of my committee, was indispensable to the development and completion of this work. I would also like to thank all of the graduate students and field technicians who assisted with the collection and processing of data, including Andrea Bowling, Brian Reichert, Sara Stocco, Christina Rich, Danny Huser, Will deGravelles, Jean Olbert, Derek Piotrowicz, Nate Richardson, Wesley Craine, Michaela Speirs, Melinda Conners, Bridget Deemer, Courtney Hooker, Andrea Ayala, Melissa Desa, Carolyn Enloe, and all of my fellow coworkers at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Cooperative Research Unit. I would like to express particular gratitude to Brian Reichert for helping me with survival analyses. This project would not have been possible without the unwavering dedication that each of the aforementioned individuals expressed for conservation of the snail kite and the challenging (and often arduous) work each performed to advance our knowledge of this endangered species. This cooperative effort has allowed us to elucidate threats to the snail kite population and to increase our understanding of their ecology, which will lead to more reliable conservation strategies. I am enormously grateful to everyone involved with this work. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES...........................................................................................................................8 LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................................9 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS........................................................................................................13 ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................................14 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................16 Study Population.....................................................................................................................17 Invasion of the Exotic Snail....................................................................................................19 Population Demography .........................................................................................................21 Study Objectives and Outline .................................................................................................23 2 EFFECTS OF THE EXOTIC APPLE SNAIL ON SNAIL KITE FORAGING BEHAVIOR............................................................................................................................27 Background.............................................................................................................................28 Foraging Behavior...........................................................................................................28 A Note on Pomacea Measurements ................................................................................30 The Native Apple Snail ...................................................................................................30 The Exotic Apple Snail ...................................................................................................31 Previous Foraging Studies...............................................................................................32 Prey availability........................................................................................................32 Prey negotiability and drop rate ...............................................................................34 Searching and handling time ....................................................................................35 Age and sex effects on foraging behavior................................................................36 Energy budgets and profitability..............................................................................37 Economic models of foraging behavior ..........................................................................38 Predictions .......................................................................................................................39 Methods ..................................................................................................................................40 Time Activity Budgets ....................................................................................................40 Sampling locations ...................................................................................................41 Selection of focal individuals...................................................................................41 Timing and duration of observations .......................................................................42 Classification of individual kites..............................................................................43 Collection of behavioral data ...................................................................................45 Assumptions of behavioral observations..................................................................46 5 Apple Snails.....................................................................................................................47 Collection and measurement of empty snail shells ..................................................47 Collection and processing of live snails...................................................................48 Statistical Analysis and Confidence Intervals .................................................................49 Analysis of Foraging Behavior........................................................................................49 Searching and handling time ....................................................................................51 Drop rate...................................................................................................................52 Capture rate (i.e., consumption rate)........................................................................52 Analysis of Energetics.....................................................................................................53 Regression models and estimation of average snail weight and caloric content......53 Profitability...............................................................................................................54 Daily activity times and energy budgets ..................................................................54 Results.....................................................................................................................................56 Diet ..................................................................................................................................56 Nutritional content of apple snails ...........................................................................57 Live exotic snail measurements ...............................................................................57 Empty snail shell dimensions...................................................................................58 Estimates of total snail weight .................................................................................58 Foraging Behavior...........................................................................................................59 Comparing adults, subadults, and juveniles .............................................................59 Effects of the exotic snail on average searching times.............................................60 Effects of the exotic snail on average handling times..............................................60 Effects of the exotic snail on drop rates ...................................................................61 Effects of the exotic snail on capture rates...............................................................62 Effects of the Exotic Snail on Energetics........................................................................63 Estimates of caloric content .....................................................................................63 Profitability...............................................................................................................64 Validation of time activity budget extrapolations....................................................64 Daily activity patterns ..............................................................................................65 Daily energy balances ..............................................................................................65 Discussion...............................................................................................................................66 3 DEMOGRAPHIC