Drs. Jolien Van Malderen
Terrestrial Ecology Unit
Department of Biology
Ghent University
K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35
9000 Gent Belgium
E-mail: Jolien.vanmalderen@ugent.be
A growing proportion of wildlife is exposed to habitat loss as a result of the increasing global urbanisation. While this has negative consequences for most species, some species manage to thrive in this novel environment. Yet, there are not only differences in the use of the urban environment between species, but also between individuals of the same species. Moreover, individuals often limit urban habitat use to specific activities: e.g. to reproduce in the city while foraging on natural resources or vice versa. The underlying drivers of these individual differences in behavioural strategies, as well as the functional consequences thereof, are still poorly understood. On the one hand, this individual variation in the use of urban habitats might arise from environmental effects during early ontogeny, which may shape habitat preferences. On the other hand, the urban environment might select for specific (behavioural) traits.
In order to understand the drivers that facilitate urban living in wild animals, my PhD project focuses on one notorious urban dwelling species, the Herring Gull (Larus argentatus), which has successfully adapted to urban environments over the past decades, both for foraging and breeding, but nevertheless shows a pronounced within-population variability in the use of the urban habitat. I will study the effects of living in the urban environment throughout all life stages, from egg to adult. More specifically, I will investigate how urban stressors affect the ontogeny of individuals born in the urban environment, as well as the potential long-lasting consequences thereof for habitat preference or learning ability. Finally, I will analyse the morphological and behavioural characteristics associated with urban foraging and urban breeding in adults, and study how they are linked to reproductive success. My PhD project aims to improve our understanding of the role of developmental programming and individual variation in behaviour for urban living in general, and might also help to understand the current population decline of Herring gulls in particular.