Foraging in the Anthropocene: Feeding plasticity of an opportunistic predator revealed by long term monitoring

For centuries, human activities have altered the population dynamics of wildlife. New anthropogenic food sources provide a predictable and abundant food supply that often induces very significant changes in the size, distribution, and behaviour of many populations, with ultimate consequences on the...

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Autores: Ouled-Cheikh, Jazel, Morera-Pujol, Virginia, Bahillo, Álvaro, Ramírez Benítez, Francisco José, Cerdà-Cuéllar, Marta, Ramos i Garcia, Raül
Tipo de documento: artigo
Estado:Versão publicada
Data de publicação:2021
País:España
Recursos:Universidad de Barcelona
Repositório:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/185747
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/185747
Access Level:Acceso aberto
Palavra-chave:Gavines
Alimentació animal
Adaptació animal
Gulls
Animal feeding
Animal adaptation
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spelling Foraging in the Anthropocene: Feeding plasticity of an opportunistic predator revealed by long term monitoringOuled-Cheikh, JazelMorera-Pujol, VirginiaBahillo, ÁlvaroRamírez Benítez, Francisco JoséCerdà-Cuéllar, MartaRamos i Garcia, RaülGavinesAlimentació animalAdaptació animalGullsAnimal feedingAnimal adaptationFor centuries, human activities have altered the population dynamics of wildlife. New anthropogenic food sources provide a predictable and abundant food supply that often induces very significant changes in the size, distribution, and behaviour of many populations, with ultimate consequences on the structure and functioning of natural ecosystems. Here, we combine historical and contemporary feather samples of a population of a superabundant, opportunistic predator, the yellow-legged gull Larus michahellis, to assess its trophic ecology and relate it to human activities in the long term. Dietary assessments were based on stable isotope analysis of carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur (δ13C, δ15N and δ34S), and were conducted through three end-point (marine prey, waste from landfills-slaughterhouses, and terrestrial invertebrates) Bayesian mixing models. Our results suggest that gulls' diet showed a progressive decrease in the consumption of marine prey throughout the most recent period (late 20th century onwards), linked to an increase in the consumption of meat waste and small terrestrial invertebrates. Reported dietary changes over the sampling period correlated positively with the availability of marine resources around the breeding area. We provide evidence suggesting that the ability of gulls to exploit efficiently diverse anthropogenic food subsidies likely resulted in the exponential demographic increase of this population throughout the 20th century. In addition, current regulations affecting the availability of these food resources (e.g., fishing discards and landfill waste) likely reversed this trend over the last decade. Long-term evidence of population trophic plasticity, like the one we present here, is essential to implement and support management and conservation actions that limit the availability of anthropogenic resources, especially when it comes to superabundant, problematic species.Elsevier B.V.2021info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/2445/185747Articles publicats en revistes (Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals)reponame:Dipòsit Digital de la UBinstname:Universidad de BarcelonaInglésReproducció del document publicat a: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107943Ecological Indicators, 2021, vol. 129, p. 107943https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107943cc-by-nc-nd (c) Ouled-Cheikh, Jazel et al., 2021https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/1857472026-05-27T06:46:51Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Foraging in the Anthropocene: Feeding plasticity of an opportunistic predator revealed by long term monitoring
title Foraging in the Anthropocene: Feeding plasticity of an opportunistic predator revealed by long term monitoring
spellingShingle Foraging in the Anthropocene: Feeding plasticity of an opportunistic predator revealed by long term monitoring
Ouled-Cheikh, Jazel
Gavines
Alimentació animal
Adaptació animal
Gulls
Animal feeding
Animal adaptation
title_short Foraging in the Anthropocene: Feeding plasticity of an opportunistic predator revealed by long term monitoring
title_full Foraging in the Anthropocene: Feeding plasticity of an opportunistic predator revealed by long term monitoring
title_fullStr Foraging in the Anthropocene: Feeding plasticity of an opportunistic predator revealed by long term monitoring
title_full_unstemmed Foraging in the Anthropocene: Feeding plasticity of an opportunistic predator revealed by long term monitoring
title_sort Foraging in the Anthropocene: Feeding plasticity of an opportunistic predator revealed by long term monitoring
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Ouled-Cheikh, Jazel
Morera-Pujol, Virginia
Bahillo, Álvaro
Ramírez Benítez, Francisco José
Cerdà-Cuéllar, Marta
Ramos i Garcia, Raül
author Ouled-Cheikh, Jazel
author_facet Ouled-Cheikh, Jazel
Morera-Pujol, Virginia
Bahillo, Álvaro
Ramírez Benítez, Francisco José
Cerdà-Cuéllar, Marta
Ramos i Garcia, Raül
author_role author
author2 Morera-Pujol, Virginia
Bahillo, Álvaro
Ramírez Benítez, Francisco José
Cerdà-Cuéllar, Marta
Ramos i Garcia, Raül
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Gavines
Alimentació animal
Adaptació animal
Gulls
Animal feeding
Animal adaptation
topic Gavines
Alimentació animal
Adaptació animal
Gulls
Animal feeding
Animal adaptation
description For centuries, human activities have altered the population dynamics of wildlife. New anthropogenic food sources provide a predictable and abundant food supply that often induces very significant changes in the size, distribution, and behaviour of many populations, with ultimate consequences on the structure and functioning of natural ecosystems. Here, we combine historical and contemporary feather samples of a population of a superabundant, opportunistic predator, the yellow-legged gull Larus michahellis, to assess its trophic ecology and relate it to human activities in the long term. Dietary assessments were based on stable isotope analysis of carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur (δ13C, δ15N and δ34S), and were conducted through three end-point (marine prey, waste from landfills-slaughterhouses, and terrestrial invertebrates) Bayesian mixing models. Our results suggest that gulls' diet showed a progressive decrease in the consumption of marine prey throughout the most recent period (late 20th century onwards), linked to an increase in the consumption of meat waste and small terrestrial invertebrates. Reported dietary changes over the sampling period correlated positively with the availability of marine resources around the breeding area. We provide evidence suggesting that the ability of gulls to exploit efficiently diverse anthropogenic food subsidies likely resulted in the exponential demographic increase of this population throughout the 20th century. In addition, current regulations affecting the availability of these food resources (e.g., fishing discards and landfill waste) likely reversed this trend over the last decade. Long-term evidence of population trophic plasticity, like the one we present here, is essential to implement and support management and conservation actions that limit the availability of anthropogenic resources, especially when it comes to superabundant, problematic species.
publishDate 2021
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2021
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/2445/185747
url https://hdl.handle.net/2445/185747
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Reproducció del document publicat a: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107943
Ecological Indicators, 2021, vol. 129, p. 107943
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107943
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv cc-by-nc-nd (c) Ouled-Cheikh, Jazel et al., 2021
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv cc-by-nc-nd (c) Ouled-Cheikh, Jazel et al., 2021
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier B.V.
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier B.V.
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Articles publicats en revistes (Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals)
reponame:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
instname:Universidad de Barcelona
instname_str Universidad de Barcelona
reponame_str Dipòsit Digital de la UB
collection Dipòsit Digital de la UB
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15,300719

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