Increasingly urban Marabou Storks start breeding four months early in Kampala, Uganda

Pomeroy, Derek; Kibuule, Micheal

doi:10.2989/00306525.2017.1308443

Cited by 15 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…Given the propensity of the East African populations for urban scavenging and breeding (e.g. Pomeroy & Kibuule, 2017), it is interesting to note the relatively low occurrence in anthropogenic land uses by this southern focal individual (Tables 4 and 5). It is possible that the broad scale of land‐use categories nationally is masking some fine‐scale land associations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The breeding biology of marabou storks has been well‐studied in East Africa (e.g. Kahl, 1966; Korssi & Alam, 2013; Pomeroy, 1977; Pomeroy & Kibuule, 2017), but less so in southern Africa. An isolated breeding colony is established in Hlane National Park, Eswatini, where a minimum of 15 pairs were breeding at the turn of the millennium (Monadjem, 2005; Monadjem et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Home range and landscape use by a marabou stork and the breeding success of Africa's most southerly breeding colony

et al. 2021

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The marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer) is a common to abundant African scavenging bird, widely distributed from Senegal to Somalia at the northern extremity, to as far south as eastern South Africa (Anderson, 2005;Brown et al., 1982). In southern Africa, the species is considered near-threatened because of the peripheral small breeding population (Monadjem, 2005). The breeding biology of marabou storks has been well-studied in East Africa (e.g. Kahl, 1966;Korssi & Alam, 2013;Pomeroy, 1977;Pomeroy & Kibuule, 2017), but less so in southern Africa. An isolated breeding colony is established in Hlane National Park, Eswatini, where a minimum of 15 pairs were breeding at the turn of the millennium (Monadjem, 2005;Monadjem et al., 2012).Scavenging birds such as the marabou stork fulfil critical functional roles in the environment, removing decomposing waste and carcasses, suppressing disease outbreaks across trophic levels, which may be additionally detrimental to human health (DeVault, 2016). In recent years, East African marabou storks have become increasingly commensal with humans, adapting to urban environments and the waste generated by them (Pomeroy & Kibuule, 2017;Ssemmanda & Pomeroy, 2009). As such, urban populations have greatly increased (Ssemmanda & Pomeroy, 2009). There is little evidence for this trend in southern Africa; however, fecundity and survival in the southern-most populations are susceptible to climatic conditions (Monadjem et al., 2012).

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Home range and landscape use by a marabou stork and the breeding success of Africa's most southerly breeding colony

et al. 2021

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“…For example, the exploitation of resources in anthropogenic environments is not unique to storks in North America; other wetland species inhabiting dynamic systems have started to exploit anthropogenic resources worldwide. This ability to exploit alternative resources has allowed Marabou Storks (Leptoptilos crumeniferus) in Uganda to breed earlier 67 , White Storks (Ciconia ciconia) to alter home ranges and movements 68 , African Woolly-necked Storks (Ciconia microscelis) 69 , Australian White Ibis (Threskiornis molucca) 70 , and American White Ibis (Eudocimus albus) to inhabit urban areas 71,72 , and has even allowed Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) to establish on new continents 73,74 . www.nature.com/scientificreports/ conclusions Urbanization continues to intensify with projected urban land cover expected to triple between 2000 and 2030 75,76 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban food subsidies reduce natural food limitations and reproductive costs for a wetland bird

Evans

Gawlik

2020

Sci Rep

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there is a strong conservation need to understand traits of species that adapt to urban environments, but results have been equivocal. Wetland birds exhibit a strong phylogenetic signal towards urban tolerance; however, they have largely been ignored in urban studies. in their historic ranges, wetland birds inhabit dynamic systems, traveling long distances to locate food. this ability to exploit dynamic resources may translate to success in urban environments, areas characterized by novel food opportunities. We used the Wood Stork (Mycteria americana), a species of conservation concern, to determine if the ability to exploit resources in natural environments translated to exploitation of urban resources. During optimal natural foraging conditions, storks nesting in both urban and natural wetlands had narrow diet breadths and high productivity. However, during suboptimal conditions, urban stork diet expanded to include anthropogenic items, leading to increased productivity. our study provides a mechanistic understanding of how a wetland species persists, and even thrives, in urban environments. We demonstrated that species inhabiting dynamic systems can exploit urban areas resulting in increased reproductive performance during suboptimal conditions. together, urban environments may support biodiversity in a variety of ways, but species-specific mechanistic understanding will help highlight how to best mitigate potential threats of urbanization. Urbanization is one of the most extreme forms of anthropogenic change impacting species globally 1,2. Urbanization fragments and destroys natural habitats 2-6 , leading to increased pollution 7-9 , alteration of resources 5,10,11 and species interactions 5,12,13 ; all of which contribute to global biotic homogenization and biodiversity loss 2,14. Nevertheless, recent studies show a more nuanced effect of urbanization, with urban areas increasingly being recognized as potential, vital components for biodiversity 15,16 , and in some cases, acting as refugia for species of conservation concern 17. The ability of some species to persist or even thrive in urban environments is largely associated with the ability to exploit resources and avoid risk in urban areas 18. Consequently, as urbanization engulfs more of a landscape, it acts as a filter through which only some species can pass, resulting in more depauperate communities than surrounding areas 6. This ability to exploit resources is a key driver of the demographic response of avian species to urbanization; however, this response has been variable 5,11,19. For example, in urban environments supplemental anthropogenic food can increase reproductive success whereas scarcity of natural food can reduce it 5,11,19. Foraging theory predicts that as preferred resources become scarce 20 , lower value prey items should be added to the diet as individuals become more opportunistic and less selective 21. When adults are feeding nestlings, one strategy to deal with unpredictable environmental conditions is to include different prey type...

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“…The end of a long guerilla war that devastated central Uganda, the implementation of Structural Adjustment, and the establishment of a new constitution in the 1990s meant population and economic growth in Kampala, giving rise to a flourishing informal economy, the emergence of new peri-urban slums and elite suburbs, and the transformation of the city's ecology. The growing availability of organic wastes meant a constant food supply, so stork colonies could expand, and patterns of seasonal migration gave way to a permanent urban presence in the city, with an expanded breeding season no longer coupled tightly to the change from wet to dry seasons (Pomeroy and Kibuule 2017).…”

Section: Animal Infrastructurementioning

confidence: 99%

Filthy Flourishing

Doherty¹

2019

Current Anthropology

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Thousands of marabou storks occupy Kampala, nesting in the city's green spaces and eating up to 2 kilos of organic matter daily, mostly rotting garbage found in the city's open dumps. Weedy birds, they flourish amid Kampala's garbage crisis. Storks are both waste infrastructure and waste themselves, rendered disposable by the same state-centric views of infrastructure that make informal waste pickers precarious, and cast out from the imaginary of a clean, green, urban future. Theorizing animal and informal infrastructures together as "para-sites," this paper follows marabou storks through Kampala's ever-shifting waste frontier: the postconsumer equivalent to the extractive frontier that subtends the capitalist fantasy of endless growth. Kampala's topography, hydrology, and class structure ensure that trash flows downhill, accumulating in slums where it leads to flooding and outbreaks of cholera, typhoid, and other waterborne illnesses as well as to endemic malaria. Waste with wings, marabou storks remake the urban waste landscape, undermining efforts to stabilize the city's ultimate sinks in landfills, slums, and wetlands as they flourish in filth and defecate in the heart of greenness.

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Increasingly urban Marabou Storks start breeding four months early in Kampala, Uganda

Cited by 15 publications

References 13 publications

Home range and landscape use by a marabou stork and the breeding success of Africa's most southerly breeding colony

Home range and landscape use by a marabou stork and the breeding success of Africa's most southerly breeding colony

Urban food subsidies reduce natural food limitations and reproductive costs for a wetland bird

Filthy Flourishing

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