부산대학교 도서관

Higher nest predation at habitat edges is a major problem for conservation biology. We studied nest predation using artificial nests resembling great reed warblers’ nests at edges and interiors of reedbeds in four large wetlands in Europe: Lake Hornborga (Sweden), Lake Neusiedl (Austria), Lake Velence (Central-Hungary) and Kis-Balaton marshland (West-Hungary). Nest losses showed great local and temporal variation, and in general there was larger nest predation at the edges than in the interior reedbeds. Predation rates of artificial nests along different reedbed edges showed great variation. In contrast, predation rates of interiors were more similar across all experiments, with less variation. This may indicate the existence of a habitat-specific predation rate with less variation in interiors of large habitats, while edges are more exposed to the influences of other factors, which resulted in higher variation of predation rates among study sites. Therefore, reedbed conservation should prefer large stands if considering only passerine nest predation, because (1) nest survival seems to be higher in interior than at edges, and (2) because interiors are less variable, i.e. more stable than edges. The designation of reedbeds cannot rely on reedbed edges, where predation can change due to factors not related to the reed habitat at all.