Coot (Fulica atra) Science Article 3
abstract
In connection with the building of a Fixed Link (bridge-arti.cial island-tunnel) between Sweden and Denmark intensive studies of waterfowl and benthic fauna and .ora in the Oresund were undertaken as a part of the Environmental Impact Assessment Study. This paper analysis the occurrences of staging and wintering herbivores (i.e. Mute Swan Cygnus olor and Coot Fulica atra) in relation to available food resources. It was concluded that the proportion of Zostera and Ruppia consumed by the birds during September-March was about 10% of the availablestanding crop in the autumn or less. During ice-periods large parts of the available feeding areas are covered by ice, and during an extended ice-period in 1995/1996 the calculated food consumption for the ice-free areas was of the same magnitude as the calculated standing crop of food plants.
Leif Nilsson, ORNIS SVECICA 15: 13-21, 2005