摘要：
Borrow-pit constructed ponds, formed during road building, are common along highways that run through the Peace Parkland, Alberta, Canada, providing habitat for a variety of aquatic birds. The horned grebe ( Podiceps auritus ) is a migratory diving bird that is in decline, likely due to native habitat destruction; however, it readily nests on roadside borrow pits. We conducted stable isotope analysis (SIA), based on carbon and nitrogen, of the food-webs of 14 borrow pits in the Peace Parkland, half occupied and half unoccupied by nesting horned grebes, to determine if food-web structure differed between ponds where breeding grebes were present versus ponds where grebes were absent. Grebe eggs were collected from seven ponds and suspected vertebrate and invertebrate prey were collected from all ponds. Borrow pits had simple, consistent food-webs. No difference in food-web structure or invertebrate biomass was detected between occupied and unoccupied ponds. When present, horned grebes were top predators, as determined by nitrogen signatures of egg albumen, and held the same trophic position as small-bodied fish. Grebes use nutrients acquired from the breeding pond for egg formation. SIA indicated that horned grebes were generalists, feeding on organisms from a variety of trophic positions including odonates, leeches, and amphipods.
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