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Research Applied to the Conservation of Seabirds

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Research Applied to the Conservation of Seabirds Alejandro Martínez Abraín Departament de Biologia Animal Facultat de Biologia Ph.D. thesis RESEARCH APPLIED TO THE CONSERVATION OF SEABIRDS BREEDING ON ISLANDS OF THE WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN Investigación aplicada a la conservación de aves marinas nidificantes en islas del Mediterráneo occidental TESIS DOCTORAL FACULTAT DE BIOLOGIA Programa de doctorado: Zoología Bienio 2001-2003 RESEARCH APPLIED TO THE CONSERVATION OF BREEDING SEABIRDS ON ISLANDS OF THE WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN Investigación aplicada a la conservación de aves marinas nidificantes en islas del Mediterráneo occidental Memoria presentada por Alejandro Martínez Abraín para optar al título de Doctor en Ciencias Biológicas en el Departamento de Biología Animal (Vertebrados), Facultad de Biología, Universitat de Barcelona, bajo la dirección del Dr. Daniel Oro de Rivas. Alejandro Martínez Abraín VoBo VoBo El director de la tesis El tutor Dr. Daniel Oro de Rivas Dr. Xavier Ruiz Gabriel Institut Mediterrani d’Estudis Avançats Universitat de Barcelona IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB) Contents i Contents Agradecimientos/Acknowledgements (Spanish)…………………………………………... iii Introduction Population dynamics and conservation of seabirds in the western Mediterranean: a historical overview……………………………………... 1 Section I. The role of biological factors on the population dynamics of breeding seabirds in the western Mediterranean……………………….……………………….... 5 Introduction Ecology and behaviour of seabirds (in Marine Ecology, Enciclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), Eolss Publishers-UNESCO, Oxford, UK, [http://www.eolss.net]) Daniel Oro (IMEDEA) and Alejandro Martínez-Abraín (IMEDEA). 7 Chapter 1 The dynamics of a colonization event in the European Shag: the roles of immigration and demographic stochasticity (Waterbirds 24: 97-102, 2001) Alejandro Martínez-Abraín (IMEDEA), Daniel Oro (IMEDEA) and Juan Jiménez (Conselleria de Medi Ambient)..……………................. 25 Chapter 2 A note on the potential role of philopatry and conspecific attraction in Audouin’s gull Larus audouinii (Bird Conservation International 11: 143-147, 2001) Alejandro Martínez-Abraín (IMEDEA), Covadonga Viedma (CPEMN), Natalia Ramón (CPEMN) and Daniel Oro (IMEDEA)……………............................................................................... 34 Chapter 3 Determinants of colony-site dynamics in Audouin’s Gull: a case study (ms submitted to Population Ecology, 2003) Alejandro Martínez-Abraín (IMEDEA), M.G. Forero (IMEDEA), Daniel Oro (IMEDEA) and David Conesa (Universitat de Valencia)…………..........………………………... 39 Chapter 4 Atlantic Cory’s shearwaters breeding in a colony of Mediterranean Cory’s shearwater (Waterbirds 25: 221-224, 2002) Alejandro Martínez- Abraín (IMEDEA), Antonio Sánchez (Ayuntamiento de Valencia) and Daniel Oro (IMEDEA)………………….. .................................................. 54 Chapter 5 Movements of Yellow-legged gulls Larus [cachinnans] michahellis from two small western Mediterranean colonies (Atlantic Seabirds 4: 101-108, 2002) Alejandro Martínez-Abraín (IMEDEA), Daniel Oro (IMEDEA), Josep Carda (Reserva Natural de Columbretes) and X. del Señor (Reserva Natural de Columbretes).............................................................................. 60 Section II. The role of human activities on the population dynamics of seabirds breeding in the western Mediterranean.................................................. 68 Introduction Conservación y explotación: el paradigma de la avifauna marina del Mediterráneo. Submitted as a book chapter to El litoral valenciano. El medio natural y físico, su gestión y conservación. Mayoral, O and M.A. Gómez-Serrano (eds.). In press. Alejandro Martínez-Abraín (IMEDEA) and Daniel Oro (IMEDEA).......................................................................... 70 Contents ii Chapter 6 Prevalence of blood parasites in two western-Mediterranean local populations of the Yellow-legged gull Larus cachinnans michahellis (Ornis Fennica 79: 34-40, 2002) Alejandro Martínez-Abraín, Santiago Merino, Daniel Oro and Beatriz Esparza .................................................. 80 Chapter 7 Demersal trawling waste as a food source for western Mediterranean seabirds during the summer (ICES Journal of Marine Science 59: 529- 537, 2002) Alejandro Martínez-Abraín (IMEDEA), Raquel Maestre (SEOBirdlife) and Daniel Oro (IMEDEA). 88 Chapter 8 Influence of food availability on demography and local population dynamics in a long-lived seabird (ms submitted to the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, 2003) Daniel Oro (IMEDEA), Emmanuelle Cam (Université P. Sabatier), Roger Pradel (CNRS) and Alejandro Martínez-Abraín(IMEDEA) ………………………….............................. 102 Chapter 9 Is growing tourist activity affecting the distribution or number of breeding pairs in a small colony of the Eleonora’s Falcon? (Animal Biodiversity and Conservation 25: 47-51, 2002) Alejandro Martínez- Abraín (IMEDEA), Daniel Oro (IMEDEA), Vicente Ferrís (Reserva Natural de Columbretes) and Roque Belenguer (Reserva Natural de Columbretes)…………………………………………….. ......................... 124 Resumen y conclusiones/Summary and conclusions (Spanish) ........................................... 130 Agradecimientos/Acknowledgements iii Agradecimientos La tesis doctoral ha representado un esfuerzo mayor de lo que pensaba pero…ha merecido la pena. Los principales culpables de que haya conseguido llevarla a buen puerto son: • Mis padres y hermanos, por su paciencia y aliento todos estos años. • Pipo y Jose Luis y, en general, mi extensa familia gallega, por enseñarme que en el mundo hay pájaros (¡nunca olvidaré el magnífico vuelo de aquella primera garza real sobre las riberas del Louro!). • Pepe Heras y Lluis Piqueras, mis profesores de ciencias naturales y filosofía del bachillerato, por contagiarme su entusiasmo por saber. • Los profesores de la Universidad de Acadia por sacarme del abismo académico en el que me hallaba a principios de los 90. • Todos mis compañeros (Toni, Jorge, Erpur, Bjorg, Miriam, Juan, Lucio, Carolina, Grace, Linda, Lobo, Sandra…) y sin embargo amigos, de la Universidad de Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL), por su grata compañía. • Robert Ricklefs, por su elegante manera de hacer sencillo lo complicado. • Dani Oro por su pragmatismo y su apoyo incondicional, además de por su amistad. Sin él esta tesis hubiera sido una utopía. ¡Gracias Dani!…quedo en deuda eterna contigo. • Todos mis amigos valencianos (Cati, Covi, Elena, los tres Miguel Angeles, Bea, Blanca, Juan Carlos, Julio, Marta, Noelia, Nadia, Mario, Raquel, Antonio, Pilar, los Tonis, David, Enrique, Julián, los Juanes, Luisa, Gerardo, Sonia, Mario, Nuria, Sofia…), y sin embargo compañeros, por estar ahí cuando más falta hacía. • Todos los compañeros de Mallorca (Xell, Manolo, Manuela, Maite, Rocío, Albert, Pep), y sin embargo amigos, por su amistad. • Los guardas de la reserva natural de Columbretes (Santi, Valentín, Vicente, Roque, Jacobo, Pepe, Diego, Rebeca) y los del servicio ambiental de la isla de Benidorm (los Juanjos, Suni, Joan, Fernando, Patricia) por su inestimable ayuda. • Los monitores del centro de información de Columbretes (Josep y Xavi), siempre al quite en materia de anillamiento desde el planetario de Castellón. • Juan Antonio, Juan, Eduardo y Jose Luis por hacer posible la financiación de nuestro trabajo. • Jose Vicente por su apoyo logístico durante las estancias y visitas a Columbretes. • Paco Ruiz y las cofradías de pescadores de Valencia, Benicarló y Altea por su interés y apoyo en nuestros trabajos sobre pesquerías. • Santi Merino y Pepe Tella por aconsejarme cómo orientar diversos trabajos. • Javier Lucientes por proporcionarnos consejos y material de campo. • J.P. Granadeiro y Lurdes Morais por su interés en nuestro trabajo. • David Conesa por echarnos una mano con la estadística a pesar de estar preparando sus oposiciones. • Los autores de las fotografías (J.M. Reyero, Raquel Maestre, Dani Oro, Pep Arcos y Elena Villuendas) por brindármelas desinteresadamente. • Los autores de las separatas y libros que han llegado a mis manos así como los revisores anónimos que ofrecen sus comentarios sin recibir nada a cambio. • Dana, por su compañía. General introduction 1 Introduction: Population dynamics and conservation of seabirds in the western Mediterranean: a historical overview The Mediterranean Sea in its history In the upper Oligocene (25 million years B.P) the African plate first made contact with south-west Asia dividing the Tethys Sea into two parts, the southern one being the ancestor of the modern Mediterranean Sea. During the last phase of the Miocene era (ca. 6 million years B.P) Africa collided with the southwestern extreme of Eurasia closing the Mediterranean Sea at its western end. Owing to the prevailing warm climatic conditions, the Mediterranean seafloor dried up for 3 thousand years (5.6-5.3 million years B.P) and probably in less than a thousand years. Some 5.3 million years BP new tectonic movements broke open the land bridge between northern Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, allowing the Atlantic Ocean to surge through the Straits of Gibraltar. Present-day main characteristics of the Mediterranean basin (i.e. size, shape, physiography, geomorphology) were finally established approximately 5 million years B.P, at the beginning of the Pliocene (see Rodríguez 1982; Blondel and Aronson 1999). Mediterranean-type climate was established some 3.2 million years ago. However, about 2.5 million years B.P (i.e. by the end of the Pliocene/begining of the Pleistocene) massive ice sheets started to grow in
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