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Life History of the Common Gull (Larus canus): A Long-Term Individual-Based Study
Uppsala University, Disciplinary Domain of Science and Technology, Biology, Department of Ecology and Evolution, Animal Ecology.
2006 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

An individual’s life history is a sequence of events which eventually determine its contribution to the next generation, or fitness. These events are affected by environmental factors, genetic make-up and decisions made by an individual and its breeding partner. Recognition of these determinants helps to understand both short-term ecological changes and long-term evolutionary dynamics in a population. In this thesis long-term individual-based data on common gull (Larus canus) is used to study age-dependent reproductive success, survival, pair retention and breeding time. Collected pedigree data enabled to study genetic variation of traits and the selection on them.

The reproductive success of common gulls increased steadily until very old age. This increase cannot be explained by selection effects, since individuals with lower breeding success were shown not to have lower survival. Consequently, this gain must be ascribed primarily to an age-related improvements of individual competence and/or increased reproductive effort. Annual survival of adult birds was age- and year-dependent. The latter was partly explained by winter severity. The size of the white spots on five outermost primaries predicted the bird’s future survival and divorce probabilities and hence, pair endurance capability. Gulls with larger spots enjoyed higher survival and lower divorce rates compared to birds with smaller spots. This suggests that the wing tip pattern might function as a condition dependent signal, revealing individual variation in quality. One of the advantages of persistent pair bond was the ability to start breeding early in the season. The timing of breeding of firm pairs advanced with time not only due to mates’ increasing age, but also owing to their experience together. Although both sexes had phenotypic effects on laying date, it was heritable only in females. On the phenotypic and genotypic level, early laying was under positive fecundity and survival selection in females.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis , 2006. , p. 38
Series
Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology, ISSN 1651-6214 ; 244
Keywords [en]
Ecology, longitudinal studies, reproductive success, survival, pair bond, indicator trait, breeding time, heritability, selection
Keywords [sv]
Ekologi
Keywords [la]
Larus canus
Research subject
Ecological Botany
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-7350ISBN: 91-554-6734-2 (print)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:uu-7350DiVA, id: diva2:169320
Public defence
2006-12-14, Lindahlsalen, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala, 10:00 (English)
Opponent
Supervisors
Available from: 2006-11-22 Created: 2006-11-22 Last updated: 2009-03-31Bibliographically approved
List of papers
1. Reproductive success in presenescent common gulls (Larus canus): the importance of the last year of life
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Reproductive success in presenescent common gulls (Larus canus): the importance of the last year of life
2004 (English)In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences, ISSN 0962-8452, Vol. 271, no 1552, p. 2059-2064Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-95193 (URN)
Available from: 2006-11-22 Created: 2006-11-22 Last updated: 2009-03-31Bibliographically approved
2. Survival rates of breeding common gulls in Estonia
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Survival rates of breeding common gulls in Estonia
1995 (English)In: Journal of Applied Statistics, ISSN 0266-4763, Vol. 22, no 5-6, p. 1057-1062Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-95194 (URN)
Available from: 2006-11-22 Created: 2006-11-22 Last updated: 2009-03-31Bibliographically approved
3. Wing tip pattern predicts future survival and divorce probability in common gulls (Larus canus)
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Wing tip pattern predicts future survival and divorce probability in common gulls (Larus canus)
(English)Manuscript (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-95195 (URN)
Available from: 2006-11-22 Created: 2006-11-22 Last updated: 2010-01-14Bibliographically approved
4. Selection on the seasonal timing of reproduction in the common gull Larus canus: Roles of the sexes, of genes, and of the environment
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Selection on the seasonal timing of reproduction in the common gull Larus canus: Roles of the sexes, of genes, and of the environment
(English)Manuscript (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-95196 (URN)
Available from: 2006-11-22 Created: 2006-11-22 Last updated: 2010-01-14Bibliographically approved
5. Heritability of head size in the common gull Larus canus in relation to environmental conditions during offspring growth
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Heritability of head size in the common gull Larus canus in relation to environmental conditions during offspring growth
1997 (English)In: Heredity, ISSN 0018-067X, Vol. 79, no 2, p. 201-207Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-95197 (URN)
Available from: 2006-11-22 Created: 2006-11-22 Last updated: 2009-03-31Bibliographically approved

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Citation style
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