'The ecology of the Manx Shearwater Puffinus Puffinus on Rhum, West Scotland'
Date(s): 1959
Creator(s): Thompson, K.R.
Scope & Content: PhD thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science University of Glasgow. Observations and analysis of Manx Shearwaters on the island of Rhum informed the Calf of Man rodent eradication programme. The thesis investigates the ecology of the Manx Shearwaters in Rhum, with particular emphasis on the influence of predation and other extrinsic factors upon breeding success and population dynamics. brown rats were not found to be active predators of Shearwaters on Rhum. few rats were present in the Shearwater colony during the birds' breeding season, but larger numbers scavenged on the remains of shearwater eggs and chicks during autumn and early winter. Chapters covered: taxonomy of the Manx Shearwater; biometrics of Manx Shearwater on Rhum; breeding success and burrow quality; timing of breeding, egg dimensions and fledglings weight; feeding ecology and chick growth; predation and population dynamics; population regulation and limitation.
Language: English
Extent: 192 pages
Item name: thesis
Collection: Manuscript Archive
Level: ITEM
ID number: MS 14005
Record class: Private
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