Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T02:12:26.433Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Variations in Reproduction Parameters of Black-headed Gulls (Larus ridibundus) Living in Different Conditions in the Czech and Slovak Republics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Zuzana Guthová
Zuzana Guthová
Affiliation:
Faculty of Biology, South Bohemian University, Na Sádkách 7, 370 05 Ceské Budejovice, Czech Republic.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Significant differences in embryonic mortality and occurrence of structural developmental defects between three separated populations of the Black-headed Gull were examined. Growth retardation was not studied.

Population ‘C’ (average 2.78 eggs per nest), living in Western Slovakia, exhibits in three-egg clutches relatively low mortality (7%) as well as a low occurrence of developmental defects (2.8%). In population ‘B’ (2.6 eggs per nest, living in Southern Moravia), breeding in a region that is intensively exploited for agriculture, the mortality is still very low (3%) but the proportion of malformed embryos increases to 15%. In population ‘A’ (2.6 eggs per nest, living in Southern Bohemia) the highest mortality was found (13%) but only 4.3% of embryos were malformed, though there was a broader spectrum of developmental defects. In this population the eggs were significantly smaller and had thinner shells.

In all the populations which were examined, the mortality and occurrence of developmental defects were higher in one-egg clutches, which were more frequent in populations ‘B’ and ‘A’ than in ‘C’.

Except for mercury, it does not seem that concentration of toxic substances in eggs could be responsible for the observed differences in reproductive success. An increase in embryonic mortality at locality ‘C’ is probably evoked by malnutrition in garbage specialists.

Type
Main Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 20 , Issue 4 , Winter 1993 , pp. 347 - 351
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Darolová, E., Reichertová, E. & Pavelka, J. (1989). Bioaccumulation of metals from nickel work waste in the gull (Larus ridibundus L., 1766). Biologia, 44, pp. 573–6.Google Scholar
Elliot, J.E., Nostrom, R.J. & Keith, J.A. (1988). Organochlorines and eggshell thinning in Northern Gannets (Sula bassanus) from Eastern Canada. Environmental Pollution, 52, pp. 81–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamburger, V. & Hamilton, H. (1951). A series of normal stages of the development of the chick embryo. J. Morphol., 88, pp. 49–92.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heinz, G.H., Hoffman, D.J., Krinitsky, J.A. & Weller, D.M.G. (1987). Reproduction in mallard fed selenium. Environ. Toxicol. Chem., 6, pp. 423–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Helander, B., Olson, M. & Reuthgardh, L. (1982). Residue levels of organochlorines and mercury compounds in unhatched eggs and the relationship to breeding success in White-tailed Sea-eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) in Sweden. Holarctic Ecology, 5, pp. 349–66.Google Scholar
Hoffman, D. J., Ratner, B.R. & Bunc, C.M. (1986). Association between PCBs and lower embryonic weight in Black-crowned Night Herons in San Francisco Bay. J. Toxicol. Environ. Health, 19, pp. 383–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hudec, K., Krédl, K., Pellantová, J., SvobodníK, J. & Svobodová, R. (1988). Residues of chlorinated pesticides, PCB and heavy metals in eggs of water birds in southern Moravia. Folia Zool. Brno, 37, pp. 156–66.Google Scholar
Janaus, M. (1988). Current State and Breeding Success of Black-headed Gull in Latvia. Thesis, Moscow, Vsesoiuznyi Institut Ochrany Prirody Gosagroprom, USSR: 230 pp., 21 figs.Google Scholar
Jelínek, R. (1988). The principles of teratogenesis revisited. Congenital Anomalies, 28 (suppl.), pp. 145–55.Google Scholar
Ohlendorf, H.M., Hoffman, D.J., Saiki, M.K. & Aldrich, T.M. (1986). Embryonic mortality and abnormalities of aquatic birds: Apparent impacts of selenium from irrigation drainwater. Sci. Tot. Environ., 52, pp. 49–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ormerod, S.J., Bull, K.R., Cumming, C.P., Tyller, S.J. & Vickery, J.A. (1988). Egg mass and shell thickness in Dippers (Cinclus cinclus) in relation to stream acidity in Wales and Scotland. Environmental Pollution, 55, pp. 107–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pierotti, R. & Annett, C. (1990). Diet and reproductive outputs in seabirds. BioScience, 40, pp. 568–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ratcliffe, D.A. (1970). Changes attributable to pesticides in egg breakage frequency and eggshell thickness in some British birds. J. Appl. Ecol., 7, pp. 67–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Viksne, J. (1980). Some problems in Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus) research and the necessity of international cooperation in this respect. Acta Ornitologica PAN, 17, pp. 72–80.Google Scholar
Webb, D.R. (1987). Termal tolerance of the avian embryo: A review. The Condor, 89, pp. 874–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar