Spatial variation and biovectoring of metals in gull faeces

Martín‐Vélez, Víctor; Hortas, Francisco; Taggart, Mark A.; Green, A.J.; O’Hanlon, Nina J.; Sánchez, Marta I.

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107534

Cited by 17 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…The increased abundance of Lesser Black-backed Gulls foraging and roosting in agricultural areas and reservoirs, and their frequent movements between these landscape features, imply potentially increasing impacts on local ecology and implications for human health. Such gulls are important bio-vectors of nutrients, weeds, exotic species and other organisms, as well as potential pollutants (Lovas-Kiss et al 2018, Mart ın-V elez et al 2019, 2020, 2021a, 2021b, and may disperse genes for antimicrobial resistance in rice fields, both when feeding at landfills or when roosting in the nearby river, which is contaminated with urban wastewaters (Mart ın et al 2011, Jarma et al 2021. Tracked Lesser Black-backed Gulls in this study travelled daily to landfills, most often during post-harvest, suggesting that their role as bio-vectors into rice fields is largely restricted to late winter and that deposition of potentially harmful materials in areas of human concern occurs during roosting.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These seemingly contradictory observations imply a substantial shift in resource use, wherein gulls are increasingly abandoning historical breeding sites in favour of an urban existence (Ross-Smith et al 2014). The spatial shift in Larus gulls and their growing use of anthropogenic food resources raises concerns about their environmental and societal impacts, including plausible threats to human health (Harris 1965, Camphuysen 1995, Oro 1996, Sakoda et al 2012, especially given their role as bio-vectors, linking terrestrial, aquatic, anthropogenic and ecological systems in the transport of potentially harmful materials including pathogens (Mart ın-Vel ez et al 2019, 2020, 2021a, 2021b, Navarro et al 2019. For example, increased availability of terrestrial food in anthropogenic landscapes has led to roosting of large numbers of gulls on inland water bodies, with important impacts on water quality (Byappanahalli et al 2015, Winton & River 2017.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Dynamic space use of Andalusian rice fields by Lesser Black‐backed Gulls (Larus fuscus) is driven by flooding pattern

Rees

Aragonés

Bouten

et al. 2021

Ibis

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Research on the space use and behaviour of waterbirds yields important insights on human-wildlife interactions of ecological and societal importance under global change. The extent to which dynamic (within-season) changes in anthropogenic landscapes affect these interactions is poorly understood. Lesser Black-backed Gulls Larus fuscus are prominent bio-vectors of biological, synthetic and inorganic materials and have exhibited large increases in abundance in parts of southern Europe in recent decades. We combined GPS tracking, earth observation, accelerometry and field observations to study the space use of overwintering gulls in a mixed rice field landscape in Andalusia, southern Spain. We used Manly selectivity metrics, a common quantitative measurement of habitat selection, and classified remote sensing imagery directly to evaluate space use and habitat selection for these gulls and how it changed throughout the rice harvest cycle. Analysis of over 45 000 GPS fixes and 14 classified remotely sensed images from winter 2016/17 showed dynamic space use driven by the harvest-related flooding across the rice harvest cycle. Prior to harvest, gulls foraged in rice paddies during the day and roosted in adjacent waterbodies (the River Guadalquivir and fish ponds) at night. During harvest, they spent nearly 100% of their daily cycle within the rice fields, foraging in harvested paddies and roosting in post-harvest, flooded paddies. After harvest, they roosted in flooded paddies at night and foraged at landfills in the surrounding landscape. Gull space use at landscape and paddy scales was closely linked to dynamic land and water management over the rice agricultural cycle, illustrating how human activities influence the movements of ecologically important, human-associated bio-vectors such as gulls. The frequent early-spring movement patterns of gulls between landfills and agricultural fields makes them an important bio-transport link for potentially toxic materials and pathogens between waste sites and places where food is grown for human consumption.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic space use of Andalusian rice fields by Lesser Black‐backed Gulls (Larus fuscus) is driven by flooding pattern

Rees

Aragonés

Bouten

et al. 2021

Ibis

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“…In this process, it is important to ensure that there is collective agreement on what successful zoogeochemical outcomes look like. For example, keeping animal-vectored pollutant levels below set thresholds (Martín-Vélez et al 2021) or maintaining a certain degree of elemental heterogeneity within the landscape. There are a plethora of field-based (e.g.…”

Section: Implementing and Communicating Zoogeochemistry For Better Re...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding anthropogenic impacts on zoogeochemistry is essential for ecological restoration

Abraham

Duvall

Ferraro

et al. 2022

Restoration Ecology

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Ecological restoration is critical for climate and biodiversity resilience over the coming century. Today, there is strong evidence that wildlife can significantly influence the distribution and stoichiometry of elements across landscapes, with subsequent impacts on the composition and functioning of ecosystems. Consequently, any anthropogenic activity that modifies this important aspect of zoogeochemistry, such as changes to animal community composition, diet, or movement patterns, may support or hinder restoration goals. It is therefore imperative that the zoogeochemical effects of such anthropogenic modifications are quantified and mapped at high spatiotemporal resolutions to help inform restoration strategies. Here, we first discuss pathways through which human activities shape wildlife-mediated elemental landscapes and outline why current frameworks are inadequate to characterize these processes. We then suggest improvements required to comprehensively model, validate, and monitor element recycling and redistribution by wildlife under differing wildlife management scenarios and discuss how this might be implemented in practice through a specific example in the southern Kalahari Desert. With robust ecological forecasting, zoogeochemical impacts of wildlife can thus be used to support ecological restoration and nature-based solutions to climate change. If ignored in the restoration process, the effects of wildlife on elemental landscapes may delay, or even prevent, restoration success.

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“…1), with a known and varying extent of connectivity through direct L. fuscus flights (Martín-Vélez et al 2020, 2021b. These sites are described as follows (see Martín-Vélez et al (2020, 2021c for more details):…”

Section: Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dispersal of aquatic invertebrates by lesser black-backed gulls and white storks within and between inland habitats

et al. 2021

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Waterbirds can transport aquatic invertebrates internally, contributing to metapopulation dynamics between aquatic habitats in a terrestrial matrix. However, research into this dispersal process to date has focused on individual field sites or laboratory studies. We investigated the invertebrates dispersed by endozoochory by the lesser black-backed gull Larus fuscus wintering in Andalusia, south-west Spain in 2016–2017, comparing seven sites interconnected by their movements, with different degrees of anthropogenization [three landfills, two saltpan complexes, a natural lake, and a large (370 km2) ricefield area]. In the ricefields, we also compared invertebrates dispersed by gulls with those dispersed by the larger white stork Ciconia ciconia. A total of 642 intact invertebrates and their propagules (mainly plumatellid bryozoans, cladocerans, and other branchiopods) were recorded in excreta (faeces and pellets) from gulls and storks. A greater diversity and abundance of invertebrates were recorded in ricefields, notably 43 individuals of the alien snail Physella acuta. One snail was still alive in a gull pellet 3 weeks after being stored in a fridge. This represents the first record of snail dispersal within waterbird pellets. Viability was also confirmed for the cladoceran Macrothrix rosea recorded in ricefields, and the alien brine shrimp Artemia franciscana recorded mainly in saltpans. In ricefields, gulls and pellets had significantly fewer propagules and fewer taxa per gram of excreta than storks and faeces, respectively. Through their high mobility, gulls and storks can disperse invertebrates between different natural and artificial habitats, and even to landfills. They can promote metapopulation dynamics for native bryozoans and branchiopods, but also the spread of invasive snails and brine shrimp.

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Spatial variation and biovectoring of metals in gull faeces

Cited by 17 publications

References 80 publications

Dynamic space use of Andalusian rice fields by Lesser Black‐backed Gulls (Larus fuscus) is driven by flooding pattern

Dynamic space use of Andalusian rice fields by Lesser Black‐backed Gulls (Larus fuscus) is driven by flooding pattern

Understanding anthropogenic impacts on zoogeochemistry is essential for ecological restoration

Dispersal of aquatic invertebrates by lesser black-backed gulls and white storks within and between inland habitats

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