Global population and conservation status of the Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus

The Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus is a generalist species that inhabits temperate and arctic coasts of the north Atlantic Ocean. In recent years, there has been growing concern about population declines at local and regional scales; however, there has been no attempt to robustly assess Great...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bird Conservation International
Main Authors: Langlois Lopez, Samuel, Bond, Alexander L., O'Hanlon, Nina J., Wilson, Jared M., Vitz, Andrew, Mostello, Carolyn S., Hamilton, Frederick, Rail, Jean-Francois, Welch, Linda, Boettcher, Ruth, Wilhelm, Sabina I., Anker-Nilssen, Tycho, Daunt, Francis, Masden, Elizabeth
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2022
Subjects:
Larus gulls
gull populations
population assessment
population ecology
bird conservation
VDP::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480
VDP::Zoology and botany: 480
Arctic
North Atlantic
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3015775
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270922000181
Description
Summary:The Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus is a generalist species that inhabits temperate and arctic coasts of the north Atlantic Ocean. In recent years, there has been growing concern about population declines at local and regional scales; however, there has been no attempt to robustly assess Great Black-backed Gull population trends across its global range. We obtained the most recent population counts across the species’ range and analysed population trends at a global, continental, and national scale over the most recent three-generation period (1985–2021) following IUCN Red List criteria. We found that, globally, the species has declined by 43%–48% over this period (1.2–1.3% per annum, respectively), from an estimated 291,000 breeding pairs to 152,000–165,000 breeding pairs under two different scenarios. North American populations declined more steeply than European ones (68% and 28%, respectively). We recommend that Great Black-backed Gull should be uplisted from ‘Least Concern’ to ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species under criterion A2 (an estimated reduction in population size >30% over three generations). Larus gulls; gull populations; population assessment; population ecology; bird conservation publishedVersion

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