Opportunistic Survey Data of Common Gull (Larus canus) and other detections in an Urban Environment, downtown Fairbanks, Interior Alaska during mid-May 2014

Abstract

This dataset presents a Common Gull (Mew Gull, Larus canus, Taxonomic Serial Number TSN 176832) survey data set for urban areas and stripmall parking lots (app. 300mx600m), super markets, fast food restaurants, gravel pits, small ponds and the riverside (Chena) in Fairbanks, interior Alaska located app. 120 miles south of the arctic circle. We did geo-referenced 50 point surveys and detections in a rapid assessment fashion. Some opportunistic data were also taken when cruising. Gull data included detection width to obtain correction factors. Data were geo-referenced with a GPS in decimal degrees (latitude and longitude, geographic datum of WGS84) collected in early breeding season, 17th of May in 2014 on a Saturday (regular shopping and business times in the U.S.) between 8.15 AM and 5 PM by driving opportunistically on public strip mall parking lots, domestic areas and other locations of relevance for gull presences and absences in the survey area (app. 200m radius). These non-intrusive citizen science car-based surveys result into a virtually unbiased data providing a representative snap shot in space and time for the study area. Stripmall parking lots near rivers represent a typical situation of where Common Gulls are found in an urban habitat during breeding season. We reported basic gull behaviour also. Some other bird species were recorded as well but not in great detail, e.g. American Wigeon, Lesser Scaup, Pigeon, White Crowned Sparrow, Swallow sp, Shorebirds sp, Mallard, Lesser Yellowleg, American Robin, Scaups sp., Common Raven, Bunting sp., Grassland birds, Northern Shoveler, Grebe sp., Dark-eyed Junco, Herring Gull, Grouse sp. Noteworthy are the higher abundances of planes and helicopters. The gull abundance seems to be driven by food items on the parking lot, e.g. provided by an adjacent fast food restaurant and by wetland areas nearby (e.g. Chena river and gravel pits) where the gulls find good conditions for nearby nesting. Gulls seem to be quite colonial. This survey is unique and contributes to multi-year baseline information relevant for gulls, ravens, urban subsidized predators (e.g. raptors) in the interior of Alaska. They are a simple but powerful snapshots in time and space and when put into an overall ecological context, e.g. as done with Geographic Information System (GIS) analysis. Some photos exist for visual information. The dataset is provided in MS Excel, consists of 144 rows and is less than 1MB in size.