Use of anthropogenic foods by glaucous gulls (Larus hyperboreus) in northern Alaska
Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2010 "Glaucous Gulls are abundant predators in northern Alaska and prey upon several bird species of conservation concern. To assess the benefit gulls may receive from scavenging garbage, I studied diet and reproduction at eight to ten breeding colo...
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ftunivalaska:oai:scholarworks.alaska.edu:11122/12761 2023-05-15T15:39:38+02:00 Use of anthropogenic foods by glaucous gulls (Larus hyperboreus) in northern Alaska Weiser, Emily L. 2010-05 http://hdl.handle.net/11122/12761 en_US eng http://hdl.handle.net/11122/12761 Department of Biology and Wildlife Larus North Slope Gulls Nutrition Diet Garbage as feed Master of Science in Wildlife Biology and Conservation Thesis ms 2010 ftunivalaska 2023-02-23T21:37:59Z Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2010 "Glaucous Gulls are abundant predators in northern Alaska and prey upon several bird species of conservation concern. To assess the benefit gulls may receive from scavenging garbage, I studied diet and reproduction at eight to ten breeding colonies in northern Alaska in 2008-2009. Garbage occurrence in diet was positively correlated with fledging rate; thus any development that increased available garbage could potentially subsidize gull populations through enhanced reproductive success. Garbage could also increase gull populations by enhancing subadult survival. Subadult gulls around the city of Barrow consumed much more garbage than breeding adults, which apparently switch to a mostly natural diet. If garbage enhances subadult survival, more gulls may survive to adulthood, which could impact prey species. When Barrow switched to incinerating garbage instead of disposing it in a landfill, garbage in subadult gull diet decreased. Using stable isotope analysis of gull chick feathers, I found that the diet samples (pellets and food remains) I used in these analyses overestimated gull use of birds and underestimated use of fishes, but usually accurately portrayed relative importance of garbage. Biases in these samples should be considered when assessing the potential impact of gulls on their prey"--Leaf iii North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, University of Alaska Foundation Angus Gavin Migratory Bird Research Grant 1. Does garbage in diet improve glaucous gull reproductive output? -- 2. Change in waste management reduces garbage in diet subadult glaucous gulls -- 3. Using stable isotope analysis to evaluate biases in conventional diet samples -- Conclusion. Thesis Barrow Glaucous Gull Larus hyperboreus north slope Alaska University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA Fairbanks |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA |
op_collection_id |
ftunivalaska |
language |
English |
topic |
Larus North Slope Gulls Nutrition Diet Garbage as feed Master of Science in Wildlife Biology and Conservation |
spellingShingle |
Larus North Slope Gulls Nutrition Diet Garbage as feed Master of Science in Wildlife Biology and Conservation Weiser, Emily L. Use of anthropogenic foods by glaucous gulls (Larus hyperboreus) in northern Alaska |
topic_facet |
Larus North Slope Gulls Nutrition Diet Garbage as feed Master of Science in Wildlife Biology and Conservation |
description |
Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2010 "Glaucous Gulls are abundant predators in northern Alaska and prey upon several bird species of conservation concern. To assess the benefit gulls may receive from scavenging garbage, I studied diet and reproduction at eight to ten breeding colonies in northern Alaska in 2008-2009. Garbage occurrence in diet was positively correlated with fledging rate; thus any development that increased available garbage could potentially subsidize gull populations through enhanced reproductive success. Garbage could also increase gull populations by enhancing subadult survival. Subadult gulls around the city of Barrow consumed much more garbage than breeding adults, which apparently switch to a mostly natural diet. If garbage enhances subadult survival, more gulls may survive to adulthood, which could impact prey species. When Barrow switched to incinerating garbage instead of disposing it in a landfill, garbage in subadult gull diet decreased. Using stable isotope analysis of gull chick feathers, I found that the diet samples (pellets and food remains) I used in these analyses overestimated gull use of birds and underestimated use of fishes, but usually accurately portrayed relative importance of garbage. Biases in these samples should be considered when assessing the potential impact of gulls on their prey"--Leaf iii North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, University of Alaska Foundation Angus Gavin Migratory Bird Research Grant 1. Does garbage in diet improve glaucous gull reproductive output? -- 2. Change in waste management reduces garbage in diet subadult glaucous gulls -- 3. Using stable isotope analysis to evaluate biases in conventional diet samples -- Conclusion. |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Weiser, Emily L. |
author_facet |
Weiser, Emily L. |
author_sort |
Weiser, Emily L. |
title |
Use of anthropogenic foods by glaucous gulls (Larus hyperboreus) in northern Alaska |
title_short |
Use of anthropogenic foods by glaucous gulls (Larus hyperboreus) in northern Alaska |
title_full |
Use of anthropogenic foods by glaucous gulls (Larus hyperboreus) in northern Alaska |
title_fullStr |
Use of anthropogenic foods by glaucous gulls (Larus hyperboreus) in northern Alaska |
title_full_unstemmed |
Use of anthropogenic foods by glaucous gulls (Larus hyperboreus) in northern Alaska |
title_sort |
use of anthropogenic foods by glaucous gulls (larus hyperboreus) in northern alaska |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11122/12761 |
geographic |
Fairbanks |
geographic_facet |
Fairbanks |
genre |
Barrow Glaucous Gull Larus hyperboreus north slope Alaska |
genre_facet |
Barrow Glaucous Gull Larus hyperboreus north slope Alaska |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/11122/12761 Department of Biology and Wildlife |
_version_ |
1766371627705040896 |