Laura Zango

University of Barcelona | UB · Department of Animal Biology

Seabirds, particularly Procellariiformes, are highly mobile organisms with a great capacity for long dispersal, though simultaneously showing high philopatry, two conflicting life-history traits that may lead to contrasted patterns of genetic population structure. Landmasses were suggested to explain differentiation patterns observed in seabirds, b...

Light‐level geolocators are popular bio‐logging tools, with advantageous sizes, longevity and affordability. Biologists tracking seabirds often presume geolocator spatial accuracies between 186 and 202 km from previously innovative, yet taxonomically, spatially and computationally limited, studies. Using recently developed methods, we investigated...

Migratory marine species cross political borders and enter the high seas, where the lack of an effective global management framework for biodiversity leaves them vulnerable to threats. Here, we combine 10,108 tracks from 5775 individual birds at 87 sites with data on breeding population sizes to estimate the relative year-round importance of nation...

Sexual segregation in foraging strategies has been little studied in marine species with slight sexual size dimorphism (SSD), particularly regarding the role of environmental conditions and fishery activities. Sexual differences in fishery attendance are of particular concern because uneven mortality associated with bycatch may exacerbate impacts i...

Niche partitioning among different age, breeding status or sex classes allows resource use to be maximized while reducing intraspecific competition. Individual specialization marks the finest scale of niche partitioning where, within a species, individuals differ in their realized niches. Despite having important implications in ecology, evolution...

Many generalist species are composed of individuals varying in the size of their realized niches within a population. To understand the underlying causes and implications of this phenomenon, repeated samplings on the same individuals subjected to different environmental conditions are needed. Here, we studied individual specialization of feeding st...

Studying the feeding ecology of seabirds is important not only to understand basic aspects of their ecology and threats but also for the conservation of marine ecosystems. In this regard, tropical seabirds have been relatively neglected, and in particular the trophic ecology of tropicbirds is scarcely known. We combined GPS tracking, environmental...

Knowing the spatial scales at which effective management can be implemented is fundamental for conservation planning. This is especially important for mobile species, which can be exposed to threats across large areas, but the space use requirements of different species can vary to an extent that might render some management approaches inefficient....

Knowing the spatial scales at which effective management can be implemented is fundamental for conservation planning. This is especially important for mobile species, which can be exposed to threats across large areas, but the space use requirements of different species can vary to an extent that might render some management approaches inefficient....

Cape Verde petrel (Pterodroma feae) is currently considered near threatened, but little is known about its population size, breeding biology and on land threats, jeopardizing its management and conservation. To improve this situation, we captured, marked and recaptured (CMR) birds using mist-nets over 10 years; measured and sexed them; monitored up...

Description of molecular sexing methodology. (DOCX)

Description of POPAN Jolly Seber modelling and model selection. (DOCX)

Carbon and nitrogen values of standard material used stable isotopic analysis. Accepted and mean measured (±standard deviation) values of the standard material used in the stable isotopic analysis performed in this study, as well as, the mean minimum and maximum values obtain in each run. The "n" refers to the number of samples of standards materia...

Examples of Cape Verde petrels brood patches representative of the score used in this article: (A) score 0 –no brood patch (i.e., no evidence of defeathering); (B) score 1 –loss of some down feathers around the edges; (C) score 2 –fully developed brood patch, that in this species occurred when almost all the down feathers fall, but there is still a...

Breeding phenology of Cape Verde petrels obtained from the light and saltwater immersion data of geolocators. (DOCX)

Description of the stable isotope analysis of fur samples. (DOCX)

GPS positions of seven tracked domestic cats from Chã das Caldeiras. (XLSX)

GPS positions over land of tracked Cape Verde petrels breeding in Fogo island. (XLSX)

Studies on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in Antarctic wildlife are scarce, and usually limited to a single locality. As a result, wildlife exposure to POPs across the Southern Ocean is poorly understood. In this study, we report the differential exposure of the major southern ocean scavengers, the giant petrels, to POPs across a wide latitud...