Fascinating

(Paraphrased from a convo I just had with Jim).

I just read an article about shorebird predation on horseshoe crabs in Delaware Bay that uses the functional response model of prey-predator relationships to explain the relationship between resource intake (of horseshoe crab eggs) by shorebirds and resource abundance (of horseshoe crab eggs) by spawning crabs. It implicates the availability of horseshoe crab eggs as limiting the rate at which the eggs can be consumed. However, it also mentions that there are digestive bottlenecks of shorebirds that further limit resource intake, specifically that red knots apparently do not consume to the maximum intake that their larger body size should permit. The authors conclude that "the abundance and availability of horseshoe crab eggs have implications for the rate at which shorebirds can consume eggs, which is likely to be a major determinant of which beaches are used by shorebirds." But the most fascinating point I thought was a question they raise at the very end about an effect red knots might be having on themselves: "are red knots more susceptible to reductions in egg abundance and availibility because they are already operating below the capacity their larger body size should permit?"

It'd be much more interesting if I'd explained the article better (or if you had just read the article yourself). But still. Jeeeeez!

(The article was "Shorebird predation of horseshoe crab eggs in Delaware Bay: species contrasts and availibility of resources" by Gillings et al. 2007).