Induced breeding failure alters movements, migratory phenology, and opportunities for pathogen spread in an urban gull population.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Annual-cycle movements of wildlife are driven by a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic factors. In urban systems, management strategies to reduce human-wildlife interactions could also alter wildlife movement and distribution, with potential effects on key ecological processes such as pathogen spread.

Methods

To better understand how management actions interact with existing spatial dynamics to mediate wildlife movement patterns, we experimentally subjected urban-nesting yellow-legged gulls to induced breeding failure via egg-oiling. We then followed their movements using bird-borne GPS transmitters throughout the treatment season as well as the following annual cycle and compared them to the movements of tracked gulls whose nests were not oiled, while also acc

SUBMITTER: Lamb JS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11887265 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature