Predation on common tern eggs by the yellow-legged gull at the Ebro Delta

The Ebro Delta holds a large seabird community, including a common tern (Sterna hirundo) local population of 3,085 pairs in 2000 which breeds scattered in several colonies. At El Canalot colony, 1,178 (1999) and 1,156 pairs (2000) of this species bred distributed in 32 and 38 sub-colonies respective...

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Autores: Hernández Matías, Antonio, 1974-, Ruiz, Xavier
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2003
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/32308
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/32308
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Predació (Biologia)
Gavines
Ebre, Delta de l' (Catalunya)
Predation (Biology)
Gulls
Ebro River Delta (Catalonia)
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spelling Predation on common tern eggs by the yellow-legged gull at the Ebro DeltaHernández Matías, Antonio, 1974-Ruiz, XavierPredació (Biologia)GavinesEbre, Delta de l' (Catalunya)Predation (Biology)GullsEbro River Delta (Catalonia)The Ebro Delta holds a large seabird community, including a common tern (Sterna hirundo) local population of 3,085 pairs in 2000 which breeds scattered in several colonies. At El Canalot colony, 1,178 (1999) and 1,156 pairs (2000) of this species bred distributed in 32 and 38 sub-colonies respectively. These sub-colonies varied in size from 1 to 223 pairs and were placed near the main breeding colonies of yellow-legged gulls (Larus cachinnans) and Audouin´s gulls (L. audouinii), which are potential egg-predators of terns. We studied egg predation during 1999 (6 sub-colonies) and 2000 (27 sub-colonies). Overall, we found that 10.6% of the nests in 1999 and 16.7% in 2000 suffered partial or total egg predation, being total in 81.1% of the predatory events. Predation was significantly higher in small sub-colonies (< 11 pairs): 49.4% in 1999 and 75.5% in 2000. Only attacks from yellow-legged gulls were observed, and defence behaviour of terns was significantly more frequent against this gull species (40.5 hours of observation), suggesting that in most cases the egg predation recorded was due to this species. Probability of egg predation was significantly and negatively correlated with distance to the nearest yellow-legged gull sub-colony, although this relationship was no more significant after adjustment for sub-colony size. On the other hand, distance to the nearest Audouin´s gull sub-colony did not show any effect. Our results suggest that the impact of large gulls (at least yellow-legged gulls) upon smaller seabirds breeding in the area might be important, especially when they are breeding in small sub-colonies. Further studies are needed to analyse the general impact of large gulls upon the breeding populations of other colonial bird species in the area.Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)2003info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfhttps://hdl.handle.net/2445/32308Articles publicats en revistes (Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals)reponame:Dipòsit Digital de la UBinstname:Universidad de BarcelonaInglésReproducció del document publicat a: http://dx.doi.org/10.3989/scimar.2003.67s295Scientia Marina, 2003, vol. 67, num. Suppl. 2, p. 95-101http://dx.doi.org/10.3989/scimar.2003.67s295cc-by-nc (c) Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), 2003http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/esinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/323082026-05-27T06:46:51Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Predation on common tern eggs by the yellow-legged gull at the Ebro Delta
title Predation on common tern eggs by the yellow-legged gull at the Ebro Delta
spellingShingle Predation on common tern eggs by the yellow-legged gull at the Ebro Delta
Hernández Matías, Antonio, 1974-
Predació (Biologia)
Gavines
Ebre, Delta de l' (Catalunya)
Predation (Biology)
Gulls
Ebro River Delta (Catalonia)
title_short Predation on common tern eggs by the yellow-legged gull at the Ebro Delta
title_full Predation on common tern eggs by the yellow-legged gull at the Ebro Delta
title_fullStr Predation on common tern eggs by the yellow-legged gull at the Ebro Delta
title_full_unstemmed Predation on common tern eggs by the yellow-legged gull at the Ebro Delta
title_sort Predation on common tern eggs by the yellow-legged gull at the Ebro Delta
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Hernández Matías, Antonio, 1974-
Ruiz, Xavier
author Hernández Matías, Antonio, 1974-
author_facet Hernández Matías, Antonio, 1974-
Ruiz, Xavier
author_role author
author2 Ruiz, Xavier
author2_role author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Predació (Biologia)
Gavines
Ebre, Delta de l' (Catalunya)
Predation (Biology)
Gulls
Ebro River Delta (Catalonia)
topic Predació (Biologia)
Gavines
Ebre, Delta de l' (Catalunya)
Predation (Biology)
Gulls
Ebro River Delta (Catalonia)
description The Ebro Delta holds a large seabird community, including a common tern (Sterna hirundo) local population of 3,085 pairs in 2000 which breeds scattered in several colonies. At El Canalot colony, 1,178 (1999) and 1,156 pairs (2000) of this species bred distributed in 32 and 38 sub-colonies respectively. These sub-colonies varied in size from 1 to 223 pairs and were placed near the main breeding colonies of yellow-legged gulls (Larus cachinnans) and Audouin´s gulls (L. audouinii), which are potential egg-predators of terns. We studied egg predation during 1999 (6 sub-colonies) and 2000 (27 sub-colonies). Overall, we found that 10.6% of the nests in 1999 and 16.7% in 2000 suffered partial or total egg predation, being total in 81.1% of the predatory events. Predation was significantly higher in small sub-colonies (< 11 pairs): 49.4% in 1999 and 75.5% in 2000. Only attacks from yellow-legged gulls were observed, and defence behaviour of terns was significantly more frequent against this gull species (40.5 hours of observation), suggesting that in most cases the egg predation recorded was due to this species. Probability of egg predation was significantly and negatively correlated with distance to the nearest yellow-legged gull sub-colony, although this relationship was no more significant after adjustment for sub-colony size. On the other hand, distance to the nearest Audouin´s gull sub-colony did not show any effect. Our results suggest that the impact of large gulls (at least yellow-legged gulls) upon smaller seabirds breeding in the area might be important, especially when they are breeding in small sub-colonies. Further studies are needed to analyse the general impact of large gulls upon the breeding populations of other colonial bird species in the area.
publishDate 2003
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2003
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/2445/32308
url https://hdl.handle.net/2445/32308
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Reproducció del document publicat a: http://dx.doi.org/10.3989/scimar.2003.67s295
Scientia Marina, 2003, vol. 67, num. Suppl. 2, p. 95-101
http://dx.doi.org/10.3989/scimar.2003.67s295
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv cc-by-nc (c) Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), 2003
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/es
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv cc-by-nc (c) Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), 2003
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/es
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
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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