Inter-individual variation in the migratory behaviour of a generalist seabird, the herring gull ( Larus smithsoniansus ), from the Canadian Arctic

Abstract The Arctic is warming three times faster than the rest of the globe, causing rapid transformational changes in Arctic ecosystems. As these changes increase, understanding seabird movements will be important for predicting how they respond to climate change, and thus how we plan for conserva...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Animal Migration
Main Authors: Baak, Julia E., Mallory, Mark L., Anderson, Christine M., Auger-Méthé, Marie, Macdonald, Christie A., Janssen, Michael H., Gilchrist, H. Grant, Provencher, Jennifer F., Gutowsky, Sarah E.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Walter de Gruyter GmbH 2021
Subjects:
Animal Science and Zoology
Ecology
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Arctic
Climate change
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/ami-2020-0109
https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/ami-2020-0109/xml
https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/ami-2020-0109/pdf
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Summary:Abstract The Arctic is warming three times faster than the rest of the globe, causing rapid transformational changes in Arctic ecosystems. As these changes increase, understanding seabird movements will be important for predicting how they respond to climate change, and thus how we plan for conservation. Moreover, as most Arctic-breeding seabirds only spend the breeding season in the Arctic, climate change may also affect them through habitat changes in their non-breeding range. We used Global Location Sensors (GLS) to provide new insights on the movement of Arctic-breeding herring gulls ( Larus smithsoniansus ) in North America. We tracked gulls that wintered in the Gulf of Mexico ( n = 7) or the Great Lakes ( n = 1), and found that migratory routes and stopover sites varied between individuals, and between southbound and northbound migration. This inter-individual variation suggests that herring gulls, as a generalist species, can make use of an array of regions during migration, but may be more susceptible to climate change impacts in their overwintering locations than during migration. However, due to our limited sample size, future, multi-year studies are recommended to better understand the impacts of climate change on this Arctic-breeding seabird.

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