Reproductive performance of the Socotra cormorant Phalacrocorax nigrogularis on Siniya Island, United Arab Emirates: planted trees increase hatching success

Published source details Muzaffar S.B., Gubiani R. & Benjamin S. (2012) Reproductive performance of the Socotra cormorant Phalacrocorax nigrogularis on Siniya Island, United Arab Emirates: planted trees increase hatching success. Waterbirds (formerly Colonial Waterbirds), 35, 626-630.
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Summary

A replicated, site comparison study in 2011 on Siniya Island, United Arab Emirates (Muzaffar et al. 2012) found that areas where trees had been planted supported a higher nesting density and hatching success of Socotra cormorants Phalacrocorax nigrogularis than unplanted desert scrub areas, but that other reproductive outcomes did not significantly differ between treatments. After thirty years, cormorant nest density and hatching rates were higher in the planted, shaded areas (1.05 nests/m²; 65% of eggs hatched) compared to unshaded areas (0.75 nests/square m; 47% of eggs hatched). Egg volume, clutch size and fledgling success were statistically similar in planted and unplanted areas (see original paper for data). Several areas were planted with non-native trees including Acacia trees and ironwood Prosopis juliflora in the early 1980s. Fourteen 5 × 5 m plots were selected in shaded and unshaded areas and monitored using photographs and egg measurements.