| Literature DB >> 27706197 |
Daniel J D Natusch1,2, Jessica A Lyons2, Gregory Brown1, Richard Shine1.
Abstract
Large numbers of metallic starlings (Aplonis metallica) migrate annually from New Guinea to the rainforests of tropical Australia, where they nest communally in single emergent trees (up to 1,000 birds). These aggregations create dense and species-rich faunal "hot-spots", attracting a diverse assemblage of local consumers that utilise this seasonal resource. The starlings nested primarily in poison-dart trees (Antiaris toxicaria) near the rainforest-woodland boundary. Surveys underneath these colonies revealed that bird-derived nutrients massively increased densities of soil invertebrates and mammals (primarily wild pigs) beneath trees, year-round. Flying invertebrates, nocturnal birds, reptiles, and amphibians congregated beneath the trees when starlings were nesting (the wet-season). Diurnal birds (primarily cockatoos and bush turkeys) aggregated beneath the trees during the dry-season to utilise residual nutrients when the starlings were not nesting. The abundance of several taxa was considerably higher (to > 1000-fold) under colony trees than under nearby trees. The system strikingly resembles utilisation of bird nesting colonies by predators in other parts of the world but this spectacular system has never been described, emphasizing the continuing need for detailed natural-history studies in tropical Australia.Entities:
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Year: 2016 PMID: 27706197 PMCID: PMC5051721 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0162651
Source DB: PubMed Journal: PLoS One ISSN: 1932-6203 Impact factor: 3.240
Fig 1Communal nesting colonies of Aplonis metallica (metallic starlings) in emergent rainforest trees attract other wildlife.
(a) A colony tree from ground level; (b) two Morelia amethistina (scrub pythons) feeding on A. metallica chicks at a fallen nest at night; (c) birds Alectura lathami (brush turkeys); Probosciger aterrimus (palm cockatoos) under a colony tree by day; and (d) Sus scrofa (pigs) under a colony tree by day.
Fig 2Map of the Lockerbie Scrub.
Showing the boundary between closed rainforest (grey) and open woodlands (white), and location of Aplonis metallica (metallic starling) colonies (black circles).
Fig 3Faunal abundance under Aplonis metallica (metallic starling) colony and random trees during the bird nesting and off seasons.
(a) Invertebrates in sticky-trap samples and (b) soil; camera-trap counts of (c) mammals and (d) birds as a function of location (colony trees vs. random trees) and season (bird nesting season vs. off-season). Figures for each taxon show total number of individuals recorded (columns) and mean (±SE) values (points) of animals per survey.
Species recorded underneath Aplonis metallica (metallic starling) colonies and nearby random trees using camera traps and nocturnal surveys.
| Species | Camera traps | Nocturnal surveys | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colony | Random | Colony | Random | |
| Pig, | 36,075 | 235 | 101 | 0 |
| Dingo, | 244 | 34 | 0 | 0 |
| Cattle, | 99 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| Agile wallaby, | 49 | 46 | 0 | 0 |
| Cape York Melomy, | 15 | 4 | 20 | 2 |
| Southern Brown Bandicoot, | 31 | 16 | 1 | 0 |
| Cape York Rat, | 15 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Short-beaked Echidna, | 9 | 9 | 3 | 1 |
| White tailed rat, | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Horse, | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Wild dog, | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Spiny haired bandicoot, | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Striped possum, | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Brush turkey, | 52,609 | 962 | 0 | 0 |
| Palm cockatoo, | 2232 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Sulpher-crested cockatoo, | 2009 | 1 | 140 | 0 |
| Emerald dove, | 1094 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bar shouldered dove, | 293 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Orange-footed Scrub Fowl, | 264 | 50 | 0 | 0 |
| Noisy pitta, | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red Goshawk, | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Buff-breasted paradise Kingfisher, | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rufuous Owl, | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 |
| Grey Goshawk, | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Blue winged Kookaburra, | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brown tree snake, | 0 | 0 | 638 | 1 |
| Amethystine Python, | 0 | 0 | 374 | 1 |
| Slaty Grey Snake, | 0 | 0 | 224 | 4 |
| Water Python, | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| Tree Dtella, | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Giant tree gecko, | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Brown headed snake, | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| Blue-tailed monitor, | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Black-headed python, | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Spotted python, | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Carpet python, | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Blind snake, | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Cane toads, | 0 | 0 | 4165 | 3 |
| White-lipped tree frog, | 0 | 0 | 69 | 2 |
| Northern Banjo Frog, | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
| Marbled Frog, | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Green tree frog, | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
Fig 4Abundance of (a) nocturnal mammals (b), birds (c) reptiles, and (d) amphibians at colony and random trees during the bird nesting season and off-season. Figures for each taxon show total number of individuals recorded (columns) and mean (±SE) values (points) of animals per survey.