TY - JOUR
T1 - Global population and conservation status of the Great Black-backed Gull
Larus marinus
AU - Langlois Lopez, Samuel
AU - Bond, Alexander L.
AU - O’Hanlon, Nina J.
AU - Wilson, Jared M.
AU - Vitz, Andrew
AU - Mostello, Carolyn S.
AU - Hamilton, Frederick
AU - Rail, Jean-François
AU - Welch, Linda
AU - Boettcher, Ruth
AU - Wilhelm, Sabina I.
AU - Anker-Nilssen, Tycho
AU - Daunt, Francis
AU - Masden, Elizabeth
N1 - © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of BirdLife International
PY - 2022/8/5
Y1 - 2022/8/5
N2 - The Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus is a generalist species that inhabits temperate and arctic coasts of the north Atlantic Ocean. In recent years, there has been growing concern about population declines at local and regional scales; however, there has been no attempt to robustly assess Great Black-backed Gull population trends across its global range. We obtained the most recent population counts across the species’ range and analysed population trends at a global, continental, and national scale over the most recent three-generation period (1985–2021) following IUCN Red List criteria. We found that, globally, the species has declined by 43%–48% over this period (1.2–1.3% per annum, respectively), from an estimated 291,000 breeding pairs to 152,000–165,000 breeding pairs under two different scenarios. North American populations declined more steeply than European ones (68% and 28%, respectively). We recommend that Great Black-backed Gull should be uplisted from ‘Least Concern’ to ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species under criterion A2 (an estimated reduction inpopulation size >30% over three generations)
AB - The Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus is a generalist species that inhabits temperate and arctic coasts of the north Atlantic Ocean. In recent years, there has been growing concern about population declines at local and regional scales; however, there has been no attempt to robustly assess Great Black-backed Gull population trends across its global range. We obtained the most recent population counts across the species’ range and analysed population trends at a global, continental, and national scale over the most recent three-generation period (1985–2021) following IUCN Red List criteria. We found that, globally, the species has declined by 43%–48% over this period (1.2–1.3% per annum, respectively), from an estimated 291,000 breeding pairs to 152,000–165,000 breeding pairs under two different scenarios. North American populations declined more steeply than European ones (68% and 28%, respectively). We recommend that Great Black-backed Gull should be uplisted from ‘Least Concern’ to ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species under criterion A2 (an estimated reduction inpopulation size >30% over three generations)
KW - Larus gulls
KW - Gull populations
KW - Population assessment
KW - Population ecology
KW - Bird conservation
U2 - 10.1017/S0959270922000181
DO - 10.1017/S0959270922000181
M3 - Article
SN - 0959-2709
SP - 1
EP - 11
JO - Bird Conservation International
JF - Bird Conservation International
ER -