Fraser Darling effect
The Fraser Darling effect is the simultaneous and shortened
The effect is named after Sir
In 1956, a study conducted by Colson and White on the mating patterns of kittiwake showed that the effect only extended for two metres and that, for groups of birds who nested more sparsely, a longer breeding time was evident in the population as a whole. However, this particular species nested in areas that were hard for predators to reach and therefore relied less on this phenomenon than other species that were more vulnerable to predation.[3] In 1968, while studying gulls, Horn found that "clumped nesting improves foraging efficiency and predation avoidance only when the colony is built in a large expanse of nesting habitat, surrounded by abundant, but patchily distributed food."[2]
Since Fraser Darling's initial observation, the phenomenon has also been observed in Brewer's blackbirds, European herring gulls, black-headed gulls, and gannets; however, other studies conducted since have not been able to confirm it in other various species of gulls.[2]
References
- ^ Michael Allaby (1999). "Fraser Darling effect". Dictionary of Zoology. Retrieved 2012-05-26.
- ^ JSTOR 4084788.
- ^ a b Wilson, Edward O. (2000). Sociobiology: The New Synthesis. Harvard University Press. p. 41.