Darwinism and Group Living: Assignment #1
The objectives of this exercise are:
1) To get you started in observing and describing the behavior of gulls.
2) To enable you to see for yourself that there are disadvantages of group living.
3) To give you practice in categorizing behaviors according to their effects on fitness.
4) To give you practice in identifying cooperative and uncooperative behaviors of herring or black-backed gulls.
Question for your consideration:
Why do you suppose Herring and Great-black backed gulls nest colonially on Appledore?
Do they derive any reproductive benefits from the nearby presence of conspecifics, or are they forced to nest on islands to escape predators on the mainland?
What kind of observation of experiment would help you answer this question?