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Prognosis for ecosystem recovery following rodent eradication and seabird restoration in an island archipelago.

Available Online

Holly P. JonES

Invasive species are widespread and can have devastating effects on biota, especially insular biota. Invasive species eradications are increasingly employed to promote island recovery to preinvasion states. However, it remains unclear if additional restoration actions may be required on islands that were once heavily reliant on seabird guano for ecosystem functions. Active seabird augmentation has been suggested as necessary to exact ecosystem recovery on contemporary timescales in some cases. I use two experiments on offshore islands in Cook Strait, New Zealand, to test the hypothesis that seabird restoration will restore island ecosystem functioning following invasive rodent removal. The first is a small-scale single-island fertilization experiment that simulates seabird recovery.

Seabird islands take mere decades to recover following rat eradication

Available Online

Jones, Holly P.

Islands house a majority of the worlds biodiversity and are thus critical for biodiversity conservation. Seabird nesting colonies provide nutrients that are integral to maintain island biodiversity and ecosystem function. Invasive rats destroy seabird colonies and thus the island ecosystems that depend on seabird-derived nutrients. After rat eradication, it is unclear how long ecosystem recovery may take, although some speculate on the order of centuries. I looked at ecosystem recovery along a chronosequence of islands that had 1222 years to recover following rat eradication. I show that soil, plant, and spider marine-derived nitrogen levels and C:N ratios take mere decades to recover even after centuries-long rat invasion. Moreover, active seabird restoration could speed recovery even further, giving much hope to quickly conserve many endemic species on islands worldwide.

Dietary shift of an invasive predator: rats, seabirds and sea turtles

Biodiversity Conservation, BRB

Available Online

Angulo, Elena

Caut, Stéphane

Courchamp, Franck

This article is a study on the dietary shift of black rats on Surprise Island, New Caledonia and their impact on the ecosystem in the presence and absence of breeding seabirds.

Improving the breeding success of a colonial seabird: a cost-benefit comparison of the eradication and control of its rat predator

Available Online

Bretagnolle, Vincent.

Culioli, Jean-Michel.

Lorvelec, Olivier.

Pascal, Michel Pascal.

Breeding success of 5 Corys shearwater Calonectris diomedea sub-colonies of Lavezzu Island (Lavezzi Archipelago, Corsica) was checked annually for 25 consecutive years from 1979 to 2004. Between 1989 and 1994, 4 ship rat Rattus rattus controls were performed in several subcolonies. In November 2000, rats were eradicated from Lavezzu Island and its 16 peripheral islets (85 ha) using traps then toxic baits. We compare cost (number of person-hours required in the field) and benefit (Corys shearwater breeding success) of control and eradication. The average breeding success doubled when rats were controlled or eradicated (0.82) compared to the situation without rat management (0.45). Moreover, the average breeding success after eradication (0.86) was significantly (11%) higher than after rat controls (0.75). Furthermore, the great variation in breeding success recorded among sub-colonies both with and without rat control declined dramatically after eradication, suggesting that rats had a major impact on breeding success. The estimated effort needed to perform eradication and checking of the permanent bait-station system during the year following eradication was 1360 person-hours. In contrast, rat control was estimated to require 240 or 1440 person-hours per year when implemented by trained and untrained staff, respectively. Within 6 yr, eradication cost is lower than control cost performed by untrained staff and confers several ecological advantages on more ecosystem components than Corys shearwater alone. Improved eradication tools such as hand or aerial broadcasting of toxic baits instead of the fairly labour-intensive eradication strategy we used would dramatically increase the economic advantage of eradication vs. control. Therefore, when feasible, we recommend eradication rather than control of non-native rat populations. Nevertheless, control remains a useful management tool when eradication is not practicable.

Birds of Samoa and American Samoa: pocket identification guide

Biodiversity Conservation

Available Online

Atherton, James

Watling Dick

This guide presents a vivid visual reference to all the land birds and breeding seabirds found across Samoa and American Samoa. Designed for ease of use in the field, it features detailed colour illustrations and concise identification cues to support naturalists, researchers, and birdwatching enthusiasts in the South Pacific.

Surveys and capacity building in Kiritimati (Christmas Island, Kiribati) June 2007, to assist in restoration of populations of Bokikokiko and seabirds

Biodiversity Conservation, BRB

Available Online

Ray Pierce , Richard Anderson, Eric VanderWerf and Lindsay Young

Kiritimati (Line Islands, Kiribati) supports globally important populations of many seabird species including the largest breeding populations of two threatened species Te ruru (Phoenix petrel, Pterodroma alba; Endangered) and Te bwebwe ni marawa (whitethroated storm-petrel, Nesofregetta fuliginosa; Vulnerable). These and other seabirds and one landbird species are increasingly being threated by an increasing human population (5000+) and the impacts of mammalian pests, including the recent arrival of black rats (Rattus rattus).

Review of measures taken by intergovernmental organization to address sea turtle and seabird interactions in marine capture fisheries

Biodiversity Conservation

Available Online

Blanchi, Gabriella

Gilman Eric

Moth-Poulsen, Thomas

This document reviews actions taken by intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), including regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) and other relevant regional fishery bodies (RFBs), to address problematic sea turtle and seabird interactions in marine capture fisheries. Sea turtles and seabirds are subject to a number of natural and anthropogenic mortality sources, including fishing operations. As a result, all sea turtle species of known status are recognized as being endangered. All sea turtle species excluding the flatback are listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which regulates international trade. Of the 61 species of seabirds affected by longline fisheries, 26 are threatened with extinction, including 19 species of albatrosses. The Convention on Migratory Species, which has a broader remit than CITES in terms of its requirements for both domestic and multilateral conservation measures, lists all sea turtles, albatrosses, giant petrels and Procellaria petrels in its Appendices. Due to concern over the status of sea turtles and certain species of seabirds and the possible negative effects of fishing on these populations, several IGOs have taken measures to address these problems. Some of these organizations have begun examining seabird or sea turtle interactions, several have adopted voluntary measures to address problematic interactions, while five RFMOs have legally binding measures requiring the employment of seabird avoidance methods in pelagic and demersal longline and trawl fisheries. There currently are no legally binding measures in place by an IGO to manage turtle-fishery interactions or seabird interactions in coastal gillnet fisheries. Several IGOs, which lack fisheries management authority, serve as advisory mechanisms and conduct cooperative research, or have a primary responsibility of regional sea turtle or seabird conservation.

Protected marine species andthetuna longline fishery i the pacific island/ Secretariat of the Pacific community. Coastal Fisheries Programme

Biodiversity Conservation

Available Online

King, Mike

The bycatch issue in the long line tuna fishery — the accidental catching on longlines of endangered and protected species, particularly turtles — is one that could eventually result in the loss of important markets for tuna from Pacific Island countries. The protection of threatened species and the Pacific Island longline fishery requires both awareness and cooperative action regarding bycatch.

Seabird/fisheries interactions : final report of advisory officer

Available Online

Keith, Crispin

In November 1998 participants of a tuna longline stakeholders meeting recommended that a technical officer be appointed to the domestic tuna fleet in order to meet with fishermen and provide assistance, advice and information on how to minimise seabird bycatch in the pelagic longline industry. This position initially commenced in March 1999, and continued until September 1999. During the course of the project, 41 fishers were successfully contacted, and productive conversations held. Tori lines were constructed for those vessels that required them. Five sea trips were undertaken during which time seabird observations were made, tori lines were tested and modified, and TDRs were deployed to study the sink rate patterns of the longline. An informal information folder was created to provide fishers with a basic reference guide to seabird bycatch mitigation.

seabirds

Land vertebrates as invasive species on the islands of the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme.

Atkinson, I A E

Atkinson, T J

This review of the invasive land vertebrates present on islands of the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) region is part of a larger review of the invasive plants and animals that have affected these islands adversely.

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