About the talk

Anthropogenic activities, such as fisheries and waste management, provide readily available food sources for seabirds, potentially altering marine food webs and creating ecological traps. These subsidies, notably from landfills, can lead to both high energetic costs and exposure to plastics and contaminants. This seminar presents a case study on Yellow-legged Gulls ('Larus michahellis') exploiting these subsidies in Southern Spain. Using high-resolution tracking and accelerometry, we evaluated the energetic trade-offs of exploiting human-linked habitats and highlight the critical role of low-energy refuges in maintaining energetic balance.

About the speaker

I’m a researcher specialized in seabird ecology, focusing on how human activities shape the behaviour, physiology and overall health of marine birds. My research explores the condition and physiological responses of opportunistic species that rely heavily on anthropogenic resources and are exposed to plastic pollution. Currently, I’m based at the EBD, where I study seabird interactions with human-altered environments and activities, including their role in plastic dispersal and the potential ecotoxicological consequences. 

Bluesky: @catarinalopes90.bsky.social