Document of bibliographic reference 393104

BibliographicReference record

Type

Bibliographic resource

Type of document

Journal article

BibLvlCode

AS

Title

Breeding density affects the movements of gull chicks, the size of their home ranges and their association with neighbours

Abstract

Colonies of ground-nesting species often have heterogeneous nest densities and their offspring experience different social conditions depending on the size and location of the breeding territory. For example, unintentional territory crossing by mobile chicks can trigger strong aggression from neighbouring adults, as observed in semi-precocial gulls. This would be expected to shape chicks’ movement tendencies, exploratory behaviour and propensity for social contact through aversive feedback learning or pre-natal maternal effects, as mothers may pre-adapt their offspring’s behaviour to the expected early life conditions. Therefore, we hypothesize that lesser black-backed gull chicks reared in denser areas of the breeding colony will move less, have smaller home ranges and have fewer social contacts with chicks from neighbouring nests. To test this, we first cross-fostered full clutches between and within high- and low-density parts of the colony, and then used ultra-wideband tags to track free-ranging chicks. In line with our predictions, we found that chicks reared in denser areas had a lower movement activity and smaller home ranges. However, these chicks still had more social contacts, although not necessarily with a higher number of unique individuals. Pre-natal breeding density had no significant effect on any of the parameters. We conclude that parental nest choice strongly affects the early social environment of their chicks, which can shape the development of their (social) phenotype, with potentially long-lasting consequences.

WebOfScience code

https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:001263029500006

Bibliographic citation

Salas, R.; Müller, W.; Stienen, E.; Matheve, H.; Vanden Broecke, B.; Verbruggen, F.; Lens, L. (2024). Breeding density affects the movements of gull chicks, the size of their home ranges and their association with neighbours. Royal Society Open Science 11(5): 231431. https://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.231431

Topic

Marine

Is peer reviewed

true

Access rights

open access

Is accessible for free

true