Contrasting patterns of plastic ingestion and transport by an opportunistic gull across urban and agricultural landscapes

Over the past few decades, plastic production has increased significantly globally. These anthropogenic materials often enter terrestrial and marine ecosystems via various pathways. Recent studies highlight that seabird species, in special the opportunistic ones such as the yellow-legged gull (Larus...

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Autores: Oliveira, CF, Navarro, J, Garcia-Garin, O, Ramírez, F, Montalvo, T, Martín-Vélez, V
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2026
País:España
Institución:Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau (IIB Sant Pau)
Repositorio:r-IIB SANT PAU. Repositorio Institucional de Producción Científica del Instituto de Investigación Biomédica Sant Pau
OAI Identifier:oai:dnet:r-iibsantpa_::5a324d3a6ba533dec94e8059067f5a4d
Acceso en línea:https://iibsantpau.fundanetsuite.com/Publicaciones/ProdCientif/PublicacionFrw.aspx?id=21703
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:GPS tracking
Landfills
Pellet analysis
Plastic biovectoring
Plastic pollution
Yellow-legged gulls
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spelling Contrasting patterns of plastic ingestion and transport by an opportunistic gull across urban and agricultural landscapesOliveira, CFNavarro, JGarcia-Garin, ORamírez, FMontalvo, TMartín-Vélez, VGPS trackingLandfillsPellet analysisPlastic biovectoringPlastic pollutionYellow-legged gullsOver the past few decades, plastic production has increased significantly globally. These anthropogenic materials often enter terrestrial and marine ecosystems via various pathways. Recent studies highlight that seabird species, in special the opportunistic ones such as the yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis), can act as biovectors, transporting plastic debris from landfills to protected or sensitive habitats, facilitating plastic leakage across ecosystems. However, the influence of plastic availability on the intensity and patterns of this biovectoring role has not yet been properly quantified. Here, we aimed to investigate the differences in the abundance and types of plastics ingested and transported by yellow-legged gulls from two colonies situated in contrasting human-related environments: a coastal urban city (Barcelona, Spain) and an inland agricultural area (Ivars Lake, Spain). We found plastics in 100% of pellets from the urban colony and in 56% from the inland colony, with higher plastic diversity and quantity in the urban population. By combining plastic analysis from pellets with GPS tracking data of 27 breeding yellow-legged gulls, we investigated how differences in the habitat use between both environments affect plastic exposure. Urban gulls were estimated to transport roughly ten times more plastic to their breeding area compared with the inland breeding gulls. These results highlight the important role of the coastal urban population as a biovector of plastics from the polluted habitats to the colonies.ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE2026info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttps://iibsantpau.fundanetsuite.com/Publicaciones/ProdCientif/PublicacionFrw.aspx?id=21703ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCHISSN: 00139351ISSNe: 10960953reponame:r-IIB SANT PAU. Repositorio Institucional de Producción Científica del Instituto de Investigación Biomédica Sant Pauinstname:Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau (IIB Sant Pau)Inglésinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:dnet:r-iibsantpa_::5a324d3a6ba533dec94e8059067f5a4d2026-06-14T12:41:47Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Contrasting patterns of plastic ingestion and transport by an opportunistic gull across urban and agricultural landscapes
title Contrasting patterns of plastic ingestion and transport by an opportunistic gull across urban and agricultural landscapes
spellingShingle Contrasting patterns of plastic ingestion and transport by an opportunistic gull across urban and agricultural landscapes
Oliveira, CF
GPS tracking
Landfills
Pellet analysis
Plastic biovectoring
Plastic pollution
Yellow-legged gulls
title_short Contrasting patterns of plastic ingestion and transport by an opportunistic gull across urban and agricultural landscapes
title_full Contrasting patterns of plastic ingestion and transport by an opportunistic gull across urban and agricultural landscapes
title_fullStr Contrasting patterns of plastic ingestion and transport by an opportunistic gull across urban and agricultural landscapes
title_full_unstemmed Contrasting patterns of plastic ingestion and transport by an opportunistic gull across urban and agricultural landscapes
title_sort Contrasting patterns of plastic ingestion and transport by an opportunistic gull across urban and agricultural landscapes
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Oliveira, CF
Navarro, J
Garcia-Garin, O
Ramírez, F
Montalvo, T
Martín-Vélez, V
author Oliveira, CF
author_facet Oliveira, CF
Navarro, J
Garcia-Garin, O
Ramírez, F
Montalvo, T
Martín-Vélez, V
author_role author
author2 Navarro, J
Garcia-Garin, O
Ramírez, F
Montalvo, T
Martín-Vélez, V
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv GPS tracking
Landfills
Pellet analysis
Plastic biovectoring
Plastic pollution
Yellow-legged gulls
topic GPS tracking
Landfills
Pellet analysis
Plastic biovectoring
Plastic pollution
Yellow-legged gulls
description Over the past few decades, plastic production has increased significantly globally. These anthropogenic materials often enter terrestrial and marine ecosystems via various pathways. Recent studies highlight that seabird species, in special the opportunistic ones such as the yellow-legged gull (Larus michahellis), can act as biovectors, transporting plastic debris from landfills to protected or sensitive habitats, facilitating plastic leakage across ecosystems. However, the influence of plastic availability on the intensity and patterns of this biovectoring role has not yet been properly quantified. Here, we aimed to investigate the differences in the abundance and types of plastics ingested and transported by yellow-legged gulls from two colonies situated in contrasting human-related environments: a coastal urban city (Barcelona, Spain) and an inland agricultural area (Ivars Lake, Spain). We found plastics in 100% of pellets from the urban colony and in 56% from the inland colony, with higher plastic diversity and quantity in the urban population. By combining plastic analysis from pellets with GPS tracking data of 27 breeding yellow-legged gulls, we investigated how differences in the habitat use between both environments affect plastic exposure. Urban gulls were estimated to transport roughly ten times more plastic to their breeding area compared with the inland breeding gulls. These results highlight the important role of the coastal urban population as a biovector of plastics from the polluted habitats to the colonies.
publishDate 2026
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2026
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://iibsantpau.fundanetsuite.com/Publicaciones/ProdCientif/PublicacionFrw.aspx?id=21703
url https://iibsantpau.fundanetsuite.com/Publicaciones/ProdCientif/PublicacionFrw.aspx?id=21703
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
publisher.none.fl_str_mv ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
ISSN: 00139351
ISSNe: 10960953
reponame:r-IIB SANT PAU. Repositorio Institucional de Producción Científica del Instituto de Investigación Biomédica Sant Pau
instname:Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau (IIB Sant Pau)
instname_str Institut d’Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau (IIB Sant Pau)
reponame_str r-IIB SANT PAU. Repositorio Institucional de Producción Científica del Instituto de Investigación Biomédica Sant Pau
collection r-IIB SANT PAU. Repositorio Institucional de Producción Científica del Instituto de Investigación Biomédica Sant Pau
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repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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