The Effect of Synchronous Egg-laying on Gull Population Dynamics While Tracking the Egg-laying Order
Department
Mathematics
Abstract
During years of high sea surface temperature, food resources for glaucous-winged gulls (Larus glaucescens) are scarce. In response, male gulls cannibalize the eggs of neighbors. When this occurs, female gulls in dense areas of the colony adopt a tactic called egg-laying synchrony, in which they lay eggs synchronously on an every-other-day schedule. Field observations show that the first-laid egg of each clutch is the most likely to be cannibalized. We analyzed a mathematical model of egg-laying behavior that tracks egg-laying order and found that the system begins to oscillate synchronously when the colony is sufficiently dense. We demonstrated that synchronous colonies produce more eggs than
non-synchronous colonies in the presence of cannibalism.
Thesis Record URL
https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/honors/244/
Session
Department of Mathematics
Event Website
https://www.andrews.edu/services/research/research_events/conferences/urs_honors_poster_symposium/index.html
Start Date
3-26-2021 1:40 PM
End Date
3-26-2021 2:00 PM
The Effect of Synchronous Egg-laying on Gull Population Dynamics While Tracking the Egg-laying Order
During years of high sea surface temperature, food resources for glaucous-winged gulls (Larus glaucescens) are scarce. In response, male gulls cannibalize the eggs of neighbors. When this occurs, female gulls in dense areas of the colony adopt a tactic called egg-laying synchrony, in which they lay eggs synchronously on an every-other-day schedule. Field observations show that the first-laid egg of each clutch is the most likely to be cannibalized. We analyzed a mathematical model of egg-laying behavior that tracks egg-laying order and found that the system begins to oscillate synchronously when the colony is sufficiently dense. We demonstrated that synchronous colonies produce more eggs than
non-synchronous colonies in the presence of cannibalism.
https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/honors-undergraduate-poster-symposium/2021/symposium/23
Acknowledgments
Advisor: Shandelle Henson