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  • Tags / Keywords communications
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  • Tags / Keywords ias-management piln baseline monitoring-tool management-action rodents eradication desecheo island trail-cameras
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Going to scale: reviewing where we’ve been and where we need to go in invasive vertebrate eradications
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Hagen, E.

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Holmes, N.

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Howald, G.

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Keitt, B.

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Poiani, K.

2019
We are on the edge of the sixth mass extinction on Earth. Islands represent ca. 5% of the earth’s land area yet are home to 61% of extinctions in the past 500 years, and currently support 39% of critically endangered species. Invasive species are a leading cause of extinction and endangerment on islands. Invasive vertebrates, particularly mammals, are among some of the most damaging invasive species on islands. Eradicating invasive mammals is an increasingly utilised conservation tool. Nevertheless, conservation intervention needs greatly outstrip the island restoration community’s capacity. There are thousands of islands where invasive vertebrates are driving species toward extinction. So, how can the effort be matched to the scale of the problem? One approach is to improve outreach and communications to increase the resources available for projects. There are great stories; but these need to be told compellingly and repeatedly. Increasing social acceptance and support for invasive species eradications will reduce project costs associated with stakeholder engagement. Broadening the funding base can be accomplished by building stronger cost benefit valuations as well as engaging funders of climate change, marine conservation, human wellbeing, and food security. Furthermore, it is important to build upon existing partnerships to create or grow coalitions that can access these resources as part of broader, holistic efforts to address multiple conservation issues.
Trail cameras are a key monitoring tool for determining target and non-target bait-take during rodent removal operations: evidence from Desecheo Island rat eradication
Island and Ocean Ecosystems
Available Online

Figuerola-Hernandez, C.

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Samra, C.

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Shiels, A.B.

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Silander, S.

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Swinnerton, K.J.

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Will, D.

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Witmer, G.W.

2019
Efforts to remove invasive rodents (e.g. Rattus spp. and Mus musculus) from islands often use toxicant-laced baits containing the anticoagulants brodifacoum or diphacinone. Rodenticide baits are generally delivered through aerial- or hand-broadcast, or in bait stations. These baits are not rodent-species and are subject to non-target consumption or secondary exposure (e.g. an individual preying upon another individual that has consumed bait). During rodenticide applications, it is generally unknown which animals are visiting and consuming bait; and to quantify this, we recommend using trail cameras (e.g. Reconyx™ motion-activated infra-red) positioned to monitor individual bait pellets. To demonstrate the importance and effectiveness of using trail cameras during such operations, we report results of target (Rattus rattus, black rat) and non-target (native land crab, lizard, insect) bait-interactions after an aerial-broadcast of Brodifacoum-25D Conservation to eradicate rats from Desecheo Island, Puerto Rico. During the ?rst ?ve days following bait application, trail cameras (n = 15) revealed that there were 40 incidences of animals contacting bait pellets: 50% rat, 32% hermit crab, 13% Ameiva lizard, and 5% insect. Trail cameras provide temporal and spatial information regarding the e?ectiveness of rodent removal, and the last rat pictured by trail cameras on Desecheo was six days after bait application began. Trail cameras revealed 30 incidences of animals contacting bait pellets 6–20 days after bait application began: 47% hermit crab, 37% Ameiva lizard, 13% insect, and 3% black crab. Despite viewing ~69,000 images from trail cameras, lizards were never pictured consuming bait on Desecheo; therefore, any brodifacoum exposure to Desecheo lizards likely occurred via secondary pathways (e.g. consumption of contaminated insects). Scaling up, we estimate that > 75% of the total bait distributed on Desecheo was not consumed by rats. Trail cameras help inform the hazards of rodenticide use and can be easily incorporated into rodent removal operations.