Publication
Title
GPS tracking during parental care does not affect early offspring development in lesser black-backed gulls
Author
Abstract
Tracking devices are increasingly used to monitor individual movement patterns continuously and in high resolution. However, carrying a device could potentially compromise an individual's physiology or behaviour, thereby making tracking data unreliable for detailed behavioural measurements. To this end, we assessed the possible consequences of the application of GPS devices on offspring development in an opportunistic seabird species, the lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus), by comparing the growth and survival of nestlings of which none, one or both parents were equipped with a GPS device. We found that the developmental trajectories of the nestlings were not affected, and there were no differences in skeletal size and body mass at the fledging stage. A lack of negative effects on offspring development strongly suggests that the parental behaviour, and thus likely the foraging behaviour, did not differ between tagged and non-tagged individuals. The evidence that GPS data can be used to reliably study parental care, as well as other aspects of the bird's behaviour, opens up new possibilities to study behavioural and evolutionary ecological questions in ever-increasing resolution.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Marine biology. - Berlin, 1967, currens
Publication
Berlin : 2018
ISSN
0025-3162 [print]
1432-1793 [online]
DOI
10.1007/S00227-018-3347-6
Volume/pages
165 :5 (2018) , 8 p.
Article Reference
87
ISI
000431717900010
Medium
E-only publicatie
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
Born to ageing parents - integrating pre- and postnatal parental effects.
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 12.06.2018
Last edited 09.10.2023
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