Gulls living in cities as overlooked seed dispersers within and outside urban environments
Martín-Vélez, Víctor (Estación Biológica de Doñana. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (Espanya))
Montalvo Porro, Tomas (Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica Sant Pau)
Afán, Isabel (Estación Biológica de Doñana. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (Espanya))
Sánchez-Márquez, Antoni (Institut de Ciències del Mar)
Aymí, Raül (Institut Català d'Ornitologia. Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona)
Figuerola, Jordi (Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública)
Lovas-Kiss, Adam (Wetland Ecology Research Group. Centre for Ecological Research. Institute of Aquatic Ecology. Department of Tisza River Research)
Navarro, Joan (Institut de Ciències del Mar)

Date:	2022
Abstract:	The yellow-legged gull is an opportunistic and generalist bird that has colonised urban areas, where it has found very favourable trophic resources but also causes disturbance to humans and damage to infrastructure. Here, we investigated the potential role that gulls play in the dispersal of plants in Barcelona, a highly populated city of north-eastern Spain. We analysed the stomach contents of 145 chicks collected in urban nests and reported the presence of seeds of 27 plant taxa. We then developed a plant dispersal model based on the movements of 20 GPS-tracked yellow-legged gulls breeding in the city of Barcelona. We estimated seed dispersal distances, seed shadows and percentage of seeds reaching habitats suitable for seeds regurgitated in pellets and those excreted in faeces. Seven of the 27 plant taxa found in the stomachs were alien taxa to Spain. Average dispersal distances of plant seeds by gulls were around 700 m, but maximum dispersal distances reached up to 35 km. Dispersal distances and seed spatial patterns did not differ between faeces and pellet models, as most strongly depended on gull movements. About 95% of the seeds were dispersed within urban environments and between 20 and 30% reached suitable habitats for seed deposition (urban woodlands, green urban parks and urban grasslands). Urban gulls frequently dispersed seeds (including alien species) within urban habitats, both via direct consumption or via secondary dispersal after consuming granivorous birds that had ingested the seeds, such as pigeons or parakeets. Urban planning for Barcelona is based on native plant species, and thus, special attention should be paid to alien plants dispersed by birds, which could pose a risk to native biodiversity in urban ecosystems.
Grants:	Agencia Estatal de Investigación RYC-2015-17809 Agencia Estatal de Investigación CEX2019-000928-S
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	GPS data ; Movement ecology ; Green areas ; Dispersal distance ; Alien plants ; Urban ecology ; Seed dispersal ; Yellow-legged gull ; Larus michahellis
Published in:	Science of the total environment, Vol. 823 (january 2022) , p. 153535, ISSN 1879-1026

DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153535
PMID: 35104514

9 p, 2.0 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Health sciences and biosciences > Institut de Recerca Sant Pau
Articles > Research articles
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