Urban Gulls with Humans

Faria, Joana Pais de; Lopes, Catarina S.; Louise, Edward Kroc; Blight, K; Nager, Ruedi G.

doi:10.1201/9781003047520-8

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…are gregarious larids which live in large colonies in occasions with other sympatric seabird species, and their populations have increased enormously in the past decades, especially the yellow-legged gull Larus michahellis. In southern Europe, with around 5000 islands and islets, these species have been increasing exponentially since the 1980s, mainly on small coastal islands close to the mainland, such as Marseille Islands in France, the Balearic archipelago in Spain and Berlenga Island in Portugal [9][10][11]. Such demographic explosion of yellow-legged gull populations throughout Europe is linked to…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Breeding Yellow-Legged Gulls on Vegetation Cover and Plant Composition of Grey Dune Habitats

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The establishment of large populations of yellow-legged gull Larus michahellis in coastal and urban areas can lead to strong changes in vegetation cover and composition through creating physical disturbance in the vegetation and impacting the soil quality through defecation. In this study, we evaluated the effects of breeding yellow-legged gull populations on tall and short vegetation cover and plant species composition in old (occupied for 13 years) and new (occupied for 3 years) colony sites in grey dunes of the Algarve, southern Portugal. In each site, sampling plots were used to measure the percentage of vegetation cover in areas with and without breeding gulls. In the old colony site, the cover by tall vegetation was substantially reduced and the cover by short vegetation substantially increased in the areas where gulls are breeding in comparison with the adjacent areas. In the new colony sites, there were only minor differences. The increase in cover of short vegetation in the breeding area of the old colony site was mostly by nitrophilous species (Paronychia argentea and Malcolmia littorea) and should be explained by the decrease in vegetation cover of tall plant species and by feces deposition. Tall and slow-growing species Suaeda maritima and Helichrysum italicum covers were negatively affected. Our results showed that yellow-legged gulls affected vegetation cover and composition of grey dunes after 3 years of consecutive breeding, and this should be considered in the management of these habitats where breeding yellow-legged gulls are increasing.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Breeding Yellow-Legged Gulls on Vegetation Cover and Plant Composition of Grey Dune Habitats

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Plenty of rooftops with few neighbours occupied by young breeding Yellow‐legged Gulls (Larus michahellis): Does this occur at the expense of their health condition?

Faria

Paiva

Veríssimo

et al. 2022

Ibis

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Gulls, as largely flexible opportunistic individuals, have been increasingly breeding in many cities around the world, but it is still unclear whether urban habitats are of equal or higher quality than traditional natural habitats or represent an ecological trap with immediate reproductive benefits but longer‐term detrimental consequences to health. Here we present a study of breeding parameters (nest density, egg dimensions, clutch size, hatching success and adult body condition) and physiological parameters (erythrocyte sedimentation rate, heterophil/lymphocyte ratio, haemoglobin concentration and measurements of oxidative stress) as indicators of the general health condition of Yellow‐legged Gull Larus michahellis adults and chicks from natural and urban colonies. Yellow‐legged Gulls in the largest urban area (Porto) laid smaller eggs and clutches, showed a significantly lower occurrence of inflammatory processes in chicks, and showed a slower early chick growth than in the natural colony of Deserta. This suggests that urban gulls might be facing important trade‐offs between the advantages of breeding in lower density urban colonies, with fewer intraspecific interactions and a lower disease transmission probability, and the disadvantages of having an anthropogenic diet usually lower in nutritional value.

show abstract

Urban Gulls with Humans

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

The Impact of Breeding Yellow-Legged Gulls on Vegetation Cover and Plant Composition of Grey Dune Habitats

The Impact of Breeding Yellow-Legged Gulls on Vegetation Cover and Plant Composition of Grey Dune Habitats

Plenty of rooftops with few neighbours occupied by young breeding Yellow‐legged Gulls (Larus michahellis): Does this occur at the expense of their health condition?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About