engleski

Identification of marine protected areas for Audouin’s Gull in Croatia

The Audouin’s Gull Larus audouinii (AG) breeds on several small, uninhabited off-shore islands in the Lastovo archipelago in the Croatian part of the south Adriatic Sea. The national breeding population is estimated to be 29 to 38 pairs, based on the results of the three year annual survey from 2019 until 2021. Islands with AG colonies are legally protected (as a Nature Park and are part of the EU NATURA 2000 ecological network), but due to lack of data only narrow sea areas around islands and in between islands in the archipelago are designated as conservation areas important for birds. Protected areas for colonial birds should not only include breeding grounds, but also foraging areas. In the period between 2019 and 2021, 25 incubating AG adults were equipped with a GPS-GSM solar-powered tracking de- vice. Here we are presenting how those tracking data were used to identify important feeding areas at sea for the AG. By using the Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) we were able to define the sea area used by individuals marked with GPS loggers. We identified a unique home range as 95% KDE and 50% KDE as core foraging areas. Core foraging areas encompass Lastovo channel, Neretva channel, Malo more and Mljet channel, all outside currently protected areas. Those areas should be designated as new marine protected areas of importance for bird conservation to provide the basis for adequate species conservation.

Larus audouinii , marine protected areas

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