Quantifying gull predation in a declining Leach’s Storm-petrel (Hydrobates leucorhous) colony
The effect of gull predation on sympatric seabirds has garnered much attention and management action in recent decades. In Witless Bay, Newfoundland, Canada, gulls depredate significant numbers of Leach’s Storm-petrels (Hydrobates leucorhous) annually. We quantified this predation on Gull Island in...
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2023
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:5212991fa09a421485d66ecedb514f47 2023-07-23T04:20:23+02:00 Quantifying gull predation in a declining Leach’s Storm-petrel (Hydrobates leucorhous) colony Alexander L. Bond Sabina I. Wilhelm Donald W. Pirie-Hay Gregory J. Robertson Ingrid L. Pollet Jillian L. Arany 2023-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doaj.org/article/5212991fa09a421485d66ecedb514f47 EN eng Resilience Alliance https://www.ace-eco.org/vol18/iss1/art5/ https://doaj.org/toc/1712-6568 1712-6568 https://doaj.org/article/5212991fa09a421485d66ecedb514f47 Avian Conservation and Ecology, Vol 18, Iss 1, p 5 (2023) american herring gulls hydrobatidae laridael leach's storm-petrel newfoundland population estimate witless bay Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2023 ftdoajarticles 2023-07-02T00:34:15Z The effect of gull predation on sympatric seabirds has garnered much attention and management action in recent decades. In Witless Bay, Newfoundland, Canada, gulls depredate significant numbers of Leach’s Storm-petrels (Hydrobates leucorhous) annually. We quantified this predation on Gull Island in Witless Bay, and its effects on the storm-petrel population, by estimating the annual gull predation rate using strip transects to count storm-petrel carcasses and predicting storm-petrels’ population growth rate by repeating an island-wide breeding census. Using methods that account for island topography, we found that the Leach’s Storm-petrel breeding population on Gull Island declined to roughly 180,000 pairs in 2012 (95% CI: 130,000–230,000), a decrease of 6% per year since the last census in 2001 (352,000 pairs). Based on carcass counts, gulls, mostly American Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus smithsonianus), depredated 118,000–143,000 Leach’s Storm-petrels in 2012. Studies of storm-petrel recruitment, the contribution of the large non-breeding component of the population to gulls’ diets, and the consequences of gulls’ storm-petrel diet on the gulls themselves are needed to better predict the trajectory of both species into the future. Article in Journal/Newspaper Newfoundland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Canada Gull Island ENVELOPE(-55.315,-55.315,49.533,49.533) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
american herring gulls hydrobatidae laridael leach's storm-petrel newfoundland population estimate witless bay Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
american herring gulls hydrobatidae laridael leach's storm-petrel newfoundland population estimate witless bay Ecology QH540-549.5 Alexander L. Bond Sabina I. Wilhelm Donald W. Pirie-Hay Gregory J. Robertson Ingrid L. Pollet Jillian L. Arany Quantifying gull predation in a declining Leach’s Storm-petrel (Hydrobates leucorhous) colony |
topic_facet |
american herring gulls hydrobatidae laridael leach's storm-petrel newfoundland population estimate witless bay Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
The effect of gull predation on sympatric seabirds has garnered much attention and management action in recent decades. In Witless Bay, Newfoundland, Canada, gulls depredate significant numbers of Leach’s Storm-petrels (Hydrobates leucorhous) annually. We quantified this predation on Gull Island in Witless Bay, and its effects on the storm-petrel population, by estimating the annual gull predation rate using strip transects to count storm-petrel carcasses and predicting storm-petrels’ population growth rate by repeating an island-wide breeding census. Using methods that account for island topography, we found that the Leach’s Storm-petrel breeding population on Gull Island declined to roughly 180,000 pairs in 2012 (95% CI: 130,000–230,000), a decrease of 6% per year since the last census in 2001 (352,000 pairs). Based on carcass counts, gulls, mostly American Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus smithsonianus), depredated 118,000–143,000 Leach’s Storm-petrels in 2012. Studies of storm-petrel recruitment, the contribution of the large non-breeding component of the population to gulls’ diets, and the consequences of gulls’ storm-petrel diet on the gulls themselves are needed to better predict the trajectory of both species into the future. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Alexander L. Bond Sabina I. Wilhelm Donald W. Pirie-Hay Gregory J. Robertson Ingrid L. Pollet Jillian L. Arany |
author_facet |
Alexander L. Bond Sabina I. Wilhelm Donald W. Pirie-Hay Gregory J. Robertson Ingrid L. Pollet Jillian L. Arany |
author_sort |
Alexander L. Bond |
title |
Quantifying gull predation in a declining Leach’s Storm-petrel (Hydrobates leucorhous) colony |
title_short |
Quantifying gull predation in a declining Leach’s Storm-petrel (Hydrobates leucorhous) colony |
title_full |
Quantifying gull predation in a declining Leach’s Storm-petrel (Hydrobates leucorhous) colony |
title_fullStr |
Quantifying gull predation in a declining Leach’s Storm-petrel (Hydrobates leucorhous) colony |
title_full_unstemmed |
Quantifying gull predation in a declining Leach’s Storm-petrel (Hydrobates leucorhous) colony |
title_sort |
quantifying gull predation in a declining leach’s storm-petrel (hydrobates leucorhous) colony |
publisher |
Resilience Alliance |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doaj.org/article/5212991fa09a421485d66ecedb514f47 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-55.315,-55.315,49.533,49.533) |
geographic |
Canada Gull Island |
geographic_facet |
Canada Gull Island |
genre |
Newfoundland |
genre_facet |
Newfoundland |
op_source |
Avian Conservation and Ecology, Vol 18, Iss 1, p 5 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://www.ace-eco.org/vol18/iss1/art5/ https://doaj.org/toc/1712-6568 1712-6568 https://doaj.org/article/5212991fa09a421485d66ecedb514f47 |
_version_ |
1772184650096050176 |