Reduction of Garbage in the Diet of Nonbreeding Glaucous Gulls Corresponding to a Change in Waste Management

Abstract

Glaucous gulls (Larus hyperboreus) are major predators in the Arctic and may benefit from human development. We studied use of garbage by glaucous gulls in Barrow, Alaska, in 2007, when municipal waste was disposed of in a landfill, and in 2008, when it was incinerated. In both years, diet samples from breeding adult gulls contained less garbage than those from loafing nonbreeding gulls (mostly subadults of less than four years), possibly because the breeding colony was more distant than many loafing sites from the landfills. Although breeding gull samples showed no change, garbage in regurgitated pellets and food remains of nonbreeding gulls was significantly less prevalent in 2008 than in 2007 (28% vs. 43% occurrence in diet samples), and this reduction could be explained by the switch from landfill to waste incineration. Yet garbage remained a substantial part of nonbreeding gull diet after the management change. Other aspects of waste management, such as storage prior to disposal, may also be important in limiting scavengers' access to garbage and thus reducing the indirect impact of human development on prey species of conservation concern.

Changing gull diet in a changing world: A 150‐year stable isotope (δ13C,δ15N) record from feathers collected in the Pacific Northwest of North America

“…We also found no difference in mean δ 15 N of subadult vs. adult primaries, a difference we had expected if subadults relied to a greater degree on terrestrially based foods (cf. Weiser & Powell, ). As noted above, enrichment of modern agricultural food webs in 15 N may limit the ability to discriminate between a marine vs. a garbage‐based diet when considering only δ 13 C and δ 15 N. Nevertheless, the correlation between δ 13 C and δ 15 N values was stronger for adult than subadult primaries, supporting our prediction that subadults forage more frequently outside marine ecosystems during the breeding season, as seen in other subadult gulls (Butler et al ., ; Weiser & Powell, ).…”

“…We further hypothesized that changes in the availability of garbage-or reduction of marine foods in gull diets-would affect subadults and adults differently, as adults are more proficient foragers in marine habitats (Verbeek, 1977;Searcy, 1978). Given this, and the fact that landfills are often used preferentially by subadults (Weiser & Powell, 2011), we predicted that gull feather d 13 C and d 15 N values would indicate a more marine and/or higher trophic level diets for adults than for subadults (i.e., higher d 13 C and d 15 N values).…”

Electrodialytic treatment of Greenlandic municipal solid waste incineration fly ash

“…This shipment and disposal is a considerable expense for the Greenlandic municipalities. Safe handling of hazardous waste is of interest in the Arctic due to the vulnerable environment, which can suffer severe consequences due to contamination from waste (Gilbreath and Krass, 2006;Poland et al, 2003;Weichenthal et al, 2015;Weiser and Powell, 2011).…”

California Gull (Larus californicus) Space Use and Timing of Movements in Relation to Landfills and Breeding Colonies

“…For example, Belant et al (1993) showed that although Herring Gulls used landfills, they were not actively foraging during the majority of the time spent at landfills and that garbage made up a small proportion of Herring Gull diets when alternate, higher-quality food (fish) was available. Yet, in most other gull studies, garbage made up a substantial proportion of gull diets (Smith and Carlile 1993;Brousseau et al 1996;Weiser and Powell 2011;Osterback et al 2015). Within San Francisco Bay, the proportion of garbage in California Gull chick diets was estimated to be 40% in 1987-1988 at the same Alviso colony (Dierks 1990).…”

“…Use of landfills by gulls has been widely documented, and garbage often makes up a large proportion of gull diets (Smith and Carlile 1993;Brousseau et al 1996;Belant et al 1998;Weiser and Powell 2011). Population increases at many gull colonies often are attributed to the availability of food subsidies at landfills (Hunt 1972;Pons 1992;Duhem et al 2008;Weiser and Powell 2010).…”