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.

Code
3F019309
Duration
01 October 2009 → 30 September 2013
Funding
Regional and community funding: Special Research Fund, Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO)
Promotor
Research disciplines
  • Natural sciences
    • Animal biology
    • Genetics
  • Agricultural and food sciences
    • Veterinary medicine
Keywords
breeding biology Larus argentatus havioural ecology
 
Project description

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.