Corridors, local food resources, and climatic conditions affect the utilization of the urban environment by the Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus in winter
Black-headed Gulls Larus ridibundus (BHGs) in urban areas are a public nuisance. The aim of this study is to investigate the factors affecting the occurrence and abundance of the BHG foraging in urban areas in winter. The study was conducted in the city of Krakow (southern Poland) in four easily ide...
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ftunivqespace:oai:espace.library.uq.edu.au:UQ:e63249b 2023-05-15T18:49:34+02:00 Corridors, local food resources, and climatic conditions affect the utilization of the urban environment by the Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus in winter Maciusik, Bogumiła Lenda, Magdalena Skórka, Piotr 2010-03-01 https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:e63249b eng eng Wiley doi:10.1007/s11284-009-0649-7 issn:0912-3814 issn:1440-1703 orcid:0000-0001-7824-7220 Foraging Global warming Landscape Movement Urban ecology 1105 Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Journal Article 2010 ftunivqespace https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-009-0649-7 2020-11-03T01:27:48Z Black-headed Gulls Larus ridibundus (BHGs) in urban areas are a public nuisance. The aim of this study is to investigate the factors affecting the occurrence and abundance of the BHG foraging in urban areas in winter. The study was conducted in the city of Krakow (southern Poland) in four easily identifiable urban habitats: (1) areas with blocks of flats, (2) areas with congested housing, (3) detached single-family housing and (4) green areas. In each of these four habitats, 60 small (1-ha) plots were randomly chosen, and the bird's presence and abundance were noted. Results revealed that birds occurred most frequently and in the largest numbers in plots with blocks of flats and green areas as well as plots located close to rivers and water reservoirs. This highlights the importance of ecological corridors and stepping-stones for the presence of this species in the city. Food resources had no effect on the presence of the gulls but the abundance of the species was positively correlated with the number of litter-bins. This indicates that local food resources could be more important than large landfills for this species in urban habitats during winter. No human disturbance indices had an effect on the occurrence and abundance of the BHG. Higher temperature and lack of snow cover positively affected utilization of the urban habitats by the species that indicates that global warming may speed up synurbanization of the BHG. To control the number of BHGs in urban areas, we suggest preventing access to local food resources by placing litter bins with waste baskets that are inaccessible to animals. Also, the public should behave appropriately towards gulls and refrain from feeding them intentionally. Article in Journal/Newspaper Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus Stepping Stones The University of Queensland: UQ eSpace Stepping Stones ENVELOPE(-63.992,-63.992,-64.786,-64.786) Ecological Research 25 2 263 272 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
The University of Queensland: UQ eSpace |
op_collection_id |
ftunivqespace |
language |
English |
topic |
Foraging Global warming Landscape Movement Urban ecology 1105 Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics |
spellingShingle |
Foraging Global warming Landscape Movement Urban ecology 1105 Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Maciusik, Bogumiła Lenda, Magdalena Skórka, Piotr Corridors, local food resources, and climatic conditions affect the utilization of the urban environment by the Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus in winter |
topic_facet |
Foraging Global warming Landscape Movement Urban ecology 1105 Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics |
description |
Black-headed Gulls Larus ridibundus (BHGs) in urban areas are a public nuisance. The aim of this study is to investigate the factors affecting the occurrence and abundance of the BHG foraging in urban areas in winter. The study was conducted in the city of Krakow (southern Poland) in four easily identifiable urban habitats: (1) areas with blocks of flats, (2) areas with congested housing, (3) detached single-family housing and (4) green areas. In each of these four habitats, 60 small (1-ha) plots were randomly chosen, and the bird's presence and abundance were noted. Results revealed that birds occurred most frequently and in the largest numbers in plots with blocks of flats and green areas as well as plots located close to rivers and water reservoirs. This highlights the importance of ecological corridors and stepping-stones for the presence of this species in the city. Food resources had no effect on the presence of the gulls but the abundance of the species was positively correlated with the number of litter-bins. This indicates that local food resources could be more important than large landfills for this species in urban habitats during winter. No human disturbance indices had an effect on the occurrence and abundance of the BHG. Higher temperature and lack of snow cover positively affected utilization of the urban habitats by the species that indicates that global warming may speed up synurbanization of the BHG. To control the number of BHGs in urban areas, we suggest preventing access to local food resources by placing litter bins with waste baskets that are inaccessible to animals. Also, the public should behave appropriately towards gulls and refrain from feeding them intentionally. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Maciusik, Bogumiła Lenda, Magdalena Skórka, Piotr |
author_facet |
Maciusik, Bogumiła Lenda, Magdalena Skórka, Piotr |
author_sort |
Maciusik, Bogumiła |
title |
Corridors, local food resources, and climatic conditions affect the utilization of the urban environment by the Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus in winter |
title_short |
Corridors, local food resources, and climatic conditions affect the utilization of the urban environment by the Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus in winter |
title_full |
Corridors, local food resources, and climatic conditions affect the utilization of the urban environment by the Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus in winter |
title_fullStr |
Corridors, local food resources, and climatic conditions affect the utilization of the urban environment by the Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus in winter |
title_full_unstemmed |
Corridors, local food resources, and climatic conditions affect the utilization of the urban environment by the Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus in winter |
title_sort |
corridors, local food resources, and climatic conditions affect the utilization of the urban environment by the black-headed gull larus ridibundus in winter |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:e63249b |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-63.992,-63.992,-64.786,-64.786) |
geographic |
Stepping Stones |
geographic_facet |
Stepping Stones |
genre |
Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus Stepping Stones |
genre_facet |
Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus Stepping Stones |
op_relation |
doi:10.1007/s11284-009-0649-7 issn:0912-3814 issn:1440-1703 orcid:0000-0001-7824-7220 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-009-0649-7 |
container_title |
Ecological Research |
container_volume |
25 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
263 |
op_container_end_page |
272 |
_version_ |
1766243169472610304 |