The breeding success of common loons (Gavia immer) in relation to alkalinity and other lake characteristics in Ontario

Abstract

We examined the breeding success of common loons (Gavia immer) and made observations of loons feeding their young on small lakes (5.3–75 ha) with different alkalinities (−73 to 1804 μequiv./L) near Sudbury, Ontario. Alkalinity, pH, and conductivity were highly correlated with each other. There was a significant positive relationship between successful breeding and alkalinity on 68 lakes surveyed in 1982. Discriminant analysis showed that alkalinity, area, and colour of the lake contributed significantly to discrimination among lakes with successful, unsuccessful, and no breeding attempts. Lack of a breeding attempt tended to be associated with small, brown, low-alkalinity lakes, and successful breeding with large, clear, high-alkalinity lakes. For lakes with breeding attempts in 1982–1984, alkalinity (all years), depth (1983), and area (1984) provided significant discrimination between unsuccessful lakes and those on which young were raised. Unsuccessful breeding resulted primarily from brood mortalities on acidic lakes. Adult loons were more successful at securing fish on high-alkalinity lakes than on low-alkalinity lakes, and this may reflect differences in fish densities. A pair of loons attempting to raise a chick on a fishless, acidic lake fed the chick benthic algae and possibly benthic invertebrates, but flew to other lakes to feed themselves. We suggest that the high level of brood mortalities on acidic lakes resulted from a shortage of suitable food for the young.