Long-term changes in the quantity and quality of supplementary feeding of wildlife

Prof. Dr hab. Piotr Tryjanowski,  Poznan University of Life Sciences

Date: Wednesday, the 14th of March 2018 at 1PM, Cent Lecture Theatre 0142

Abstract: The natural world is now receiving more and more food of anthropogenic origin, which is widely used by a large number of animal species. Among intentional supplementary feeding, one of the most common activities is the winter feeding of game animals, affecting the size, structure and behaviour of their populations. Also common activities is providing additional food by feeding birds, intentionally by bird-feeders, and unintentionally by bins and the rests of food. It is worth to note that nowadays, as much as 30–40% of all food produced in Earth is wasted.

There is generally a lack of information, however, on long-term trends in supplementary feeding and changes in the type of feeders and feed provided, which can be crucial to understand animal dynamics. On the other hand, we well know that the amount of anthropological origin food is enormously increasing. How does this affect ecosystems, populations and individuals? The answer can come from a comparison of subsidised and non-subsidised ecosystems, and then can help predict changes in diversity and the related ecosystem services that have suffered the impact of other global changes.