Synchronized Egg-Laying as an Adaptive Response to Egg Cannibalism in Gulls

Authors

Jim M. Cushing, The University of ArizonaFollow
Shandelle M. Henson, Andrews UniversityFollow
James L. Hayward, Andrews UniversityFollow

Document Type

Contribution to Book

Publication Date

6-24-2023

Abstract

In Chap. 7 we described the occurrence of egg cannibalism by gulls, and in Chap. 8 we reported that under certain conditions female gulls lay their eggs on a synchronous, every-other-day schedule. Here we use logistic regression, chi-square analysis, and Monte Carlo simulations to show that every-other-day egg-laying synchrony functions as an adaptive response that reduces the chance that a given egg will be cannibalized during years of high sea surface temperature.

Volume

57

First Page

159

Last Page

176

Book Title

Modeling Behavior and Population Dynamics: Seabirds, Seals, and Marine Iguanas

Editor

Jim M. Cushing, Shandelle M. Henson, & James L. Hayward

Publisher

Springer

City

Cham, Switzerland

Series

Interdisciplinary Applied Mathematics

ISBN

978-3-031-34283-7

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34283-7_9

First Department

Mathematics

Second Department

Biology

Recommended Citation

Cushing, Jim M.; Henson, Shandelle M.; and Hayward, James L., "Synchronized Egg-Laying as an Adaptive Response to Egg Cannibalism in Gulls" (2023). Faculty Publications. 5015.
https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/pubs/5015