| Length of experimental area |
5 km of ocean-exposed beach |
| No. of experimental plots |
20 (10 treatment, 10 controls) |
| Dispersion of plots |
107 to 485 m (randomised between adjacent plots) |
| Number of days when scavengers were counted in the field |
n = 15 (7 before and 8 during the experimental addition of carrion) |
|
Invertebrate scavenger response
|
|
| No. of burrow openings counted and measured |
14,783 |
| Change in ghost crab density following carrion additions |
overall: 1.7 times (up to 3 times in individual plots) |
| Largest density increase |
16 times for largest crabs (> 50 mm) |
|
Carrion turnover
|
|
| No. of fish carcasses used in experiment |
720 |
| Biomass of fish carrion added to beach |
359 kg |
| No. of fish carcasses scavenged |
698 (97%) |
| Carrion biomass consumed |
348 kg (8.7 kg day-1 km-1) |
| No. days with complete removal of all fish |
5 |
