Reproductive performance of the nominate Lesser Black-backed Gull under the pressure of Herring Gull predation
Predation by Herring Gulls Larus argentatus was one of the major causes of death among Lesser Black-back chicks Larusf fuscus during a 14-year study period in the Gulf of Finland. Prior to culling operations, 17% of chick deaths were attributed to predation by neighbouring Herring Gulls in the study...
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fttsvojs:oai:journal.fi:article/133386 2023-09-05T13:20:57+02:00 Reproductive performance of the nominate Lesser Black-backed Gull under the pressure of Herring Gull predation Hario, M. 1994-03-31 application/pdf https://ornisfennica.journal.fi/article/view/133386 eng eng BirdLife Finland https://ornisfennica.journal.fi/article/view/133386/81932 https://ornisfennica.journal.fi/article/view/133386 Ornis Fennica; Vol 71 Nro 1 (1994); 1–10 Ornis Fennica; Vol. 71 No. 1 (1994); 1–10 0030-5685 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Peer-reviewed Article 1994 fttsvojs 2023-08-23T23:02:42Z Predation by Herring Gulls Larus argentatus was one of the major causes of death among Lesser Black-back chicks Larusf fuscus during a 14-year study period in the Gulf of Finland. Prior to culling operations, 17% of chick deaths were attributed to predation by neighbouring Herring Gulls in the study colony (chicks' rings were found in predators' food remnants). Culling these proven predators (2 pairs) lowered the predation rate to 2% and improved the fledging result significantly. However, predatory gulls from adjacent colonies, operating also in the study colony, were harder to track and remove. This "long-distance" predation still continued to operate even though the numbers of occupied Herring Gull nests in the entire Söderskär archipelago were reduced by 40% in four years (by egg culling) . Hence, random culling is not an effective solution in cases when selective removal of every specialized predator is not possible . This report does not, however, aim to asses the ethical grounds and the legitimacy of culling programs . Despite being a relatively large gull with a relatively large territory size, the nominate race of the Lesser Black-backed Gull shows behavioural analogies to the smaller, inoffensive gulls. It shows no intraspecific predation, and lacks effective defence against interspecific predation by larger gulls. Therefore the nominate fuscus seems to be especially vulnerable to Herring Gull predation. At present, the predation has an adverse effect on the reproduction of the nominate fuscus as it applies predominantly to the best-growing chicks, the potential recruits of the population . Article in Journal/Newspaper Lesser black-backed gull Federation of Finnish Learned Societies: Scientific Journals Online |
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Open Polar |
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Federation of Finnish Learned Societies: Scientific Journals Online |
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fttsvojs |
language |
English |
description |
Predation by Herring Gulls Larus argentatus was one of the major causes of death among Lesser Black-back chicks Larusf fuscus during a 14-year study period in the Gulf of Finland. Prior to culling operations, 17% of chick deaths were attributed to predation by neighbouring Herring Gulls in the study colony (chicks' rings were found in predators' food remnants). Culling these proven predators (2 pairs) lowered the predation rate to 2% and improved the fledging result significantly. However, predatory gulls from adjacent colonies, operating also in the study colony, were harder to track and remove. This "long-distance" predation still continued to operate even though the numbers of occupied Herring Gull nests in the entire Söderskär archipelago were reduced by 40% in four years (by egg culling) . Hence, random culling is not an effective solution in cases when selective removal of every specialized predator is not possible . This report does not, however, aim to asses the ethical grounds and the legitimacy of culling programs . Despite being a relatively large gull with a relatively large territory size, the nominate race of the Lesser Black-backed Gull shows behavioural analogies to the smaller, inoffensive gulls. It shows no intraspecific predation, and lacks effective defence against interspecific predation by larger gulls. Therefore the nominate fuscus seems to be especially vulnerable to Herring Gull predation. At present, the predation has an adverse effect on the reproduction of the nominate fuscus as it applies predominantly to the best-growing chicks, the potential recruits of the population . |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hario, M. |
spellingShingle |
Hario, M. Reproductive performance of the nominate Lesser Black-backed Gull under the pressure of Herring Gull predation |
author_facet |
Hario, M. |
author_sort |
Hario, M. |
title |
Reproductive performance of the nominate Lesser Black-backed Gull under the pressure of Herring Gull predation |
title_short |
Reproductive performance of the nominate Lesser Black-backed Gull under the pressure of Herring Gull predation |
title_full |
Reproductive performance of the nominate Lesser Black-backed Gull under the pressure of Herring Gull predation |
title_fullStr |
Reproductive performance of the nominate Lesser Black-backed Gull under the pressure of Herring Gull predation |
title_full_unstemmed |
Reproductive performance of the nominate Lesser Black-backed Gull under the pressure of Herring Gull predation |
title_sort |
reproductive performance of the nominate lesser black-backed gull under the pressure of herring gull predation |
publisher |
BirdLife Finland |
publishDate |
1994 |
url |
https://ornisfennica.journal.fi/article/view/133386 |
genre |
Lesser black-backed gull |
genre_facet |
Lesser black-backed gull |
op_source |
Ornis Fennica; Vol 71 Nro 1 (1994); 1–10 Ornis Fennica; Vol. 71 No. 1 (1994); 1–10 0030-5685 |
op_relation |
https://ornisfennica.journal.fi/article/view/133386/81932 https://ornisfennica.journal.fi/article/view/133386 |
_version_ |
1776201581966917632 |