Colony size selection determines adult survival and dispersal preferences: allee effects in a colonial bird

Avian coloniality traditionally has been investigated by examining how breeding success varies with colony size, but other crucial fitness components rarely have been examined. This may lead to wrong conclusions because unmeasured parameters may change the final fitness balance. We used multistate capture-recapture models to investigate adult survival and dispersal in relation to colony size within a long-term monitored population of lesser kestrels (Falco naumanni). Nest predation probability decreases with colony size, and adult survival is predicted to show the same trend because adults are exposed to the same suite of predators. As expected, survival probability was higher in large colonies (0.72+/-0.015; mean+/-SE) than in medium or small colonies (0.65+/-0.02). Additionally, dispersal probabilities were higher going from small to large colonies (0.20+/-0.01) than from large to small (0.08+/-0.01), as predicted by theory of habitat selection shaped by fitness maximization. These asymmetries are likely to generate size-specific colony population dynamics, so they should be taken into account in studies of colonial birds and other metapopulation-like systems. Allee effects, that is, positive density dependence, appear to be the cause of the evolution of dispersal behavior and may explain the maintenance of coloniality in this species.

Influence of food availability on demography and local population dynamics in a long-lived seabird

Few studies have addressed the effects of food availability as a proximate factor affecting local adult survival in long-lived organisms and their consequences at local population dynamics. We used capture-recapture analysis of resightings of 10 birth cohorts of ringed Audouin's gulls, Larus audouinii, to estimate adult survival and dispersal (both emigration and immigration). For the first time, permanent emigration (the transient effect in capture-recapture analysis) was modelled for the whole population and not only for the newly marked birds. Gulls exploit to a large extent fishes discarded from trawlers, and a trawling moratorium established since 1991 has decreased food supply for the colony. This was used as a natural experiment of food availability to assess its effects on adult survival and emigration. These and other demographic parameters were used in a projection modelling to assess the probabilities of extinction of the colony under two scenarios of lower and higher food availability. Food availability (together with the age of individuals) influenced emigration probabilities, but not adult survival, which was estimated at 0.91 (s.e. = 0.02). When food was in shorter supply during the chick-rearing period, emigration was very high (ca. 65%) for younger breeders, although this rate decreased sharply with age. Probabilities of extinction were very high when food availability was low, and when environmental stochasticity was introduced, and only stochastic immigration from the outside seemed to prevent extinction. The results highlight the importance of dispersal processes in the population dynamics of long-lived organisms.

Offspring sex ratios in subcolonies of Audouin's gull, Larus audouinii, with differential breeding performance

At the Ebro River delta colony in the western Mediterranean Sea, Audouin's gull, Larus audouinii, breeds in discrete aggregations called subcolonies, which showed strong differences in breeding parameters such as egg volume or breeding success. Egg parameters (such as size of both eggs and clutches) are strongly influenced by food availability. As all subcolonies are in the same area, differences in egg parameters might reflect different individuals' foraging efficiency. We measured mean clutch volumes in different subcolonies and chose those subcolonies that showed the greatest differences in this measure, which should indicate differences in parental body condition. Between these subcolonies we would expect, in turn, differences in offspring sex ratios. We took blood samples at hatching and fledging from chicks at these subcolonies and compared offspring sex ratios by means of molecular sexing. The proportions of young breeders differed between these subcolonies, and the subcolony with the greater proportion of young breeders produced smaller eggs and had lower breeding success. However, we did not detect any bias in progeny sex ratio, which probably indicates that if parental condition is not extremely reduced, selective pressures are insufficient to overcome the constraints imposed by Mendelian segregation of chromosomes.

Testing the intergenerational conflict hypothesis: factors affecting adoptions in Audouin's gulls, Larus audouinii

We studied chick adoption in Audouin's gull, Larus audouinii, a ground-nesting seabird, to test several predictions made by the intergenerational-conflict hypothesis (ICH). The effects of food availability on adoptions were considered by comparing two breeding seasons with differing food supply. As predicted, adoptions were significantly more frequent when food was in shorter supply (48% of broods affected) than when it was more available (18.5%). Adoptions occurred during the first week of the chick-rearing stage; after that, aggression by adults towards intruding chicks increased significantly, which suggests that mechanisms of parent-offspring recognition were established. Foster parents incurred certain costs, since their offspring had lower chances of survival than those in control broods. However, contrary to the ICH hypothesis, adoptees did not select foster broods in relation to the age of the resident chicks. Survival of wandering chicks was no higher than that of chicks who stayed in their natal brood. Results suggest that chicks move only as a response to neighboring chicks being fed by an adult, and in Audouin's gulls, adoptions might be considered reproductive errors.

Food availability and nest predation influence life history traits in Audouin's gull, Larus audouinii

The effects of food availability and nest predation on several life history traits such as adult survival, dispersal, and reproductive performance were assessed in an Audouin's gull (Larus audouinii) colony during the period 1992-1997. The amounts of fish discarded from trawlers were used as a measure of food availability, and a trawling moratorium which partially overlapped with the breeding season of the gulls was taken into account. The effects of nest predation were assessed in 1994, when a terrestrial predator entered the colony and remained for the whole breeding season preying on both eggs and chicks. Using the moratorium and the predatory event as natural experiments, several hypotheses were tested: (a) food supply would affect breeding performance but not adult survival (independently of age and sex), since gulls are long-lived and adult survival is the most sensitive demographic parameter in their population dynamics; (b) the predator would trigger breeding dispersal (although gulls are mostly philopatric, they are known to abandon their natal colony after breeding failure instigated by events such as this). If breeding dispersal occurs, the rate is expected to be higher in females than in males, and higher in new breeders than in more experienced breeding birds, as is usually recorded in colonial seabirds. Probabilities of resighting and survival were estimated separately, using capture-recapture models. As expected, changes in food availability did not affect adult survival, whereas they influenced egg volume, clutch size, and breeding success. Local adult survival was estimated to be 0.908 (SD = 0.007) for males and females, and it did not change significantly with the age of individuals (range 3-8 years). The predator significantly decreased breeding success, and caused the dispersal of a number of adults probably to breed in another colony; this rate was estimated at an average of 0.10 (SD = 0.02). As expected, inexperienced breeders dispersed significantly more (14%) than more experienced breeders (8%) after the predator event, but dispersal was not sex biased. Recapture probabilities after the predator event suggest that birds that left the colony still had not returned. Results confirm that population dynamics of ground-nesting seabirds are sensitive to terrestrial predation, even when predation caused only a partial breeding failure.

Trophic niche width and overlap of two sympatric gulls in the southwestern mediterranean

The diets of two potential competitor species, Audouin's Larus audouinii and yellow-legged gulls Larus cachinnans, were examined while they bred at the Chafarinas Islands during 1993, 1994, and 1995. Data were collected during two commercial fishing regimes: (1) trawling and purse seine fisheries, and (2) diurnal trawlers only. Since the food supply for the gulls in this area was heavily reliant on the activity of purse seine fisheries, these contrasting situations allowed us to analyze short-term effects, induced by daily changes in food supply, on niche width, dietary shift, and niche overlap between the two species. Overall, both species relied mainly on fish for food, especially Clupeiforms, in the case of Audouin's gull irrespective of the fishing situation, and in the case of the yellow-legged gull, only when purse seine fishing was in operation. When purse seine boats did not operate (food shortage), yellow-legged gulls broadened their niche, consuming equal amounts of all the feeding resources, and they showed a dietary shift toward a greater consumption of prey from refuse tips. In contrast, Audouin's gulls did not change their niche width, but showed a slight dietary shift away from the consumption of epipelagic fish, compensated by an increase in reliance on benthic-mesopelagic resources. Niche overlap was clearly higher on days when both fishing fleets operated, probably because a superabundant food resource facilitates high overlap without affecting coexistence between the two species. Since our study was developed on the basis of daily variations in food supply, and competition effects are to be expected on a longer-term basis, these changes can be seen as the outcome of the coexistence of two species in stable competitive equilibrium.