TY - JOUR
T1 - Jamaica Bay studies III
T2 - Abiotic determinants of distribution and abundance of gulls (Larus)
AU - Burger, Joanna
N1 - Funding Information:
I wish to thank Wade Wander for extensive field assistance; without his long hours this project could not have been completed. I am grateful to R. Trout and G. Ritter for help with the computer analysis, and M. Gochfeld for helpful advice and guidance throughout the study. I acknowledge the assistance of the personnel of the Jamaica Bay Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area; and the New York-New Jersey Port Authority for granting permission to observe at J. F. Kennedy International Airport. Funding was provided by the North Atlantic Regional office of the National Park Service (contract CX 1600-8-0007). I thank P. A. Buckley (Chief Scientist) for his continued guidance, support and discussions.
PY - 1983/2
Y1 - 1983/2
N2 - The distribution and abundance of gulls were examined at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge (New York) from 31 May 1978 to 31 May 1979. Gulls were found to be affected by tidal, temporal and weather-related factors. The distribution of gulls was affected primarily by tidal factors on the bay, and by temporal (seasonal, circadian) and weather-related factors on the freshwater ponds. The most important weather-related factors were temperature, wind velocity and wind direction. Herring (L. argentatus), great black-backed (L. fuscus) and ring-billed gulls (L. delawarensis) fed on the bay at low tides, and used the ponds at high tide. Laughing gulls (L. atricilla) fed on the bay at low tide and on rising tides. Herring and great black-backed gulls were present all year, but were most abundant in the winter, ring-billed gulls were abundant in spring and early fall, and laughing gulls were present in the summer following the breeding season but were absent in winter. Gulls used the ponds during high velocity, north winds, when they usually rested or preened. Multiple regression models were used to determine the factors explaining the variability in the numbers of gulls. Temporal variables were important contributors to accounting for the variability in the numbers of great black-backed and herring gulls only; tidal variables were significant for great black-backed and herring gulls on the bay, and for ring-billed and laughing gulls on all areas; and weather variables were significant for all species.
AB - The distribution and abundance of gulls were examined at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge (New York) from 31 May 1978 to 31 May 1979. Gulls were found to be affected by tidal, temporal and weather-related factors. The distribution of gulls was affected primarily by tidal factors on the bay, and by temporal (seasonal, circadian) and weather-related factors on the freshwater ponds. The most important weather-related factors were temperature, wind velocity and wind direction. Herring (L. argentatus), great black-backed (L. fuscus) and ring-billed gulls (L. delawarensis) fed on the bay at low tides, and used the ponds at high tide. Laughing gulls (L. atricilla) fed on the bay at low tide and on rising tides. Herring and great black-backed gulls were present all year, but were most abundant in the winter, ring-billed gulls were abundant in spring and early fall, and laughing gulls were present in the summer following the breeding season but were absent in winter. Gulls used the ponds during high velocity, north winds, when they usually rested or preened. Multiple regression models were used to determine the factors explaining the variability in the numbers of gulls. Temporal variables were important contributors to accounting for the variability in the numbers of great black-backed and herring gulls only; tidal variables were significant for great black-backed and herring gulls on the bay, and for ring-billed and laughing gulls on all areas; and weather variables were significant for all species.
KW - Birds
KW - Long Island coast
KW - bays
KW - diurnal, distribution
KW - estuaries
KW - temperature
KW - tidal cycles
KW - wind
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U2 - 10.1016/0272-7714(83)90140-3
DO - 10.1016/0272-7714(83)90140-3
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0020971796
SN - 0272-7714
VL - 16
SP - 191
EP - 216
JO - Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
JF - Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
IS - 2
ER -