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Project

Natural variation in life-history traits and corresponding trade-offs between roof- and ground-nesting Herring gulls in colonies along the Flemish and Dutch (Zeeland) North Sea coast.

The following questions are addressed: (i) Do life-history traits and phenotypic traits differ among L. argentatus colonies that differ in structure and breeding density, and does this affect trade-off functions and reaction norms ? (ii) Are trade-offs masked by variation in food availability? (iii) Do trade-off functions correlate with environmental parameters, genetic drift, parental investment, dispersal and maturation rates.

Date:1 Oct 2009 →  30 Sep 2013
Keywords:breeding biology, Larus argentatus, havioural ecology
Disciplines:Genetics, Veterinary medicine, Animal biology