CONSUMPTION OF BENTHIC FAUNA BY CARNIVOROUS BIRDS IN THE WADDEN SEA

Consumption by carnivorous birds was estimated for the Sylt-Romo tidal inlet in the northern part of the Wadden Sea, as well as the subarea Konigshafen, a small, tidal bay. The bird community of the Sylt-Romo W adden Sea was dominated by Dunlin (35% of all birds counted), Eider (9 %), Oystercatcher (8%), Knot (8%), and Shelduck (7%). The community in the Konigshafen was dominated by Eider (20%), Knot (17%), Bar-tailed Godwit (17%), Dunlin (13%), and Oystercatcher (8%). Annual consumption was estimated at 3.4 g AFDW.m(-2).year(-1) for the entire Sylt-Romo R omo Wadden Sea and 19.2 g AFDW.m(-2).year(-1) for the Konigshafen. Res tricting the calculations to the intertidal area resulted in a consump tion of 8.7 g AFDW.m(-2).year(-1) for the Sylt-Romo Wadden Sea and 17. 6 g AFDW.m(-2).year(-1) for the Konigshafen. In the two areas, consump tion was dominated by the Eider with 37% and 60% of the total consumpt ion, respectively. In comparison to the western parts of the Wadden Se a the seasonal pattern of consumption as well as species composition d iffered, most probably as an effect of different climatic conditions, whereas annual consumption on intertidal flats seems to be in the same order of magnitude. On average, 15-25% of the mean annual macrozooben thic biomass seems to be taken by carnivorous birds in the Wadden Sea, which is in the same order of magnitude as in other northern temperat e estuarine areas.