Impact and control of feral cats preying on wandering albatrosses: Insights from a field experiment
Abstract Invasive alien species are a major threat to seabird species, and the number of impacted species is still increasing. A recent study revealed for the first time that feral cats predated a large albatross species and that without cat control, some albatross populations would markedly decline...
Published in: | Ecosphere |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Wiley
2024
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4792 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.4792 |
id |
crwiley:10.1002/ecs2.4792 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crwiley:10.1002/ecs2.4792 2024-09-15T18:07:28+00:00 Impact and control of feral cats preying on wandering albatrosses: Insights from a field experiment Blanchard, Pierrick Delord, Karine Bodin, Aymeric Guille, Kevin Getti, Tobie Barbraud, Christophe 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4792 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.4792 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ecosphere volume 15, issue 2 ISSN 2150-8925 2150-8925 journal-article 2024 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4792 2024-09-03T04:23:16Z Abstract Invasive alien species are a major threat to seabird species, and the number of impacted species is still increasing. A recent study revealed for the first time that feral cats predated a large albatross species and that without cat control, some albatross populations would markedly decline. We examined this new predator–prey system by individually monitoring known‐age wandering albatross chicks with camera traps in a colony experimentally divided into zones with and without cat control. Our design allowed us to investigate how cat control influenced cat abundance and how this in turn influenced the probability for a chick to be predated by a cat. After cat controls, cat abundance was lower in controlled zones than in uncontrolled zones, while a survival analysis showed that the probability for a chick to die from cat predation depended on the zone but not on cat abundance. Our monitoring also provided a fine‐scale investigation of the various sources of chick mortality. In addition to cat predation (24% of mortality overall), our data documented predation by giant petrels, for the first time in Kerguelen, and revealed a strong and unexpected effect of nest flooding on chick mortality. Overall, our results underline the need for future studies investigating interindividual variability in cat diet and spatial ecology. Article in Journal/Newspaper Giant Petrels Wandering Albatross Wiley Online Library Ecosphere 15 2 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library |
op_collection_id |
crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Invasive alien species are a major threat to seabird species, and the number of impacted species is still increasing. A recent study revealed for the first time that feral cats predated a large albatross species and that without cat control, some albatross populations would markedly decline. We examined this new predator–prey system by individually monitoring known‐age wandering albatross chicks with camera traps in a colony experimentally divided into zones with and without cat control. Our design allowed us to investigate how cat control influenced cat abundance and how this in turn influenced the probability for a chick to be predated by a cat. After cat controls, cat abundance was lower in controlled zones than in uncontrolled zones, while a survival analysis showed that the probability for a chick to die from cat predation depended on the zone but not on cat abundance. Our monitoring also provided a fine‐scale investigation of the various sources of chick mortality. In addition to cat predation (24% of mortality overall), our data documented predation by giant petrels, for the first time in Kerguelen, and revealed a strong and unexpected effect of nest flooding on chick mortality. Overall, our results underline the need for future studies investigating interindividual variability in cat diet and spatial ecology. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Blanchard, Pierrick Delord, Karine Bodin, Aymeric Guille, Kevin Getti, Tobie Barbraud, Christophe |
spellingShingle |
Blanchard, Pierrick Delord, Karine Bodin, Aymeric Guille, Kevin Getti, Tobie Barbraud, Christophe Impact and control of feral cats preying on wandering albatrosses: Insights from a field experiment |
author_facet |
Blanchard, Pierrick Delord, Karine Bodin, Aymeric Guille, Kevin Getti, Tobie Barbraud, Christophe |
author_sort |
Blanchard, Pierrick |
title |
Impact and control of feral cats preying on wandering albatrosses: Insights from a field experiment |
title_short |
Impact and control of feral cats preying on wandering albatrosses: Insights from a field experiment |
title_full |
Impact and control of feral cats preying on wandering albatrosses: Insights from a field experiment |
title_fullStr |
Impact and control of feral cats preying on wandering albatrosses: Insights from a field experiment |
title_full_unstemmed |
Impact and control of feral cats preying on wandering albatrosses: Insights from a field experiment |
title_sort |
impact and control of feral cats preying on wandering albatrosses: insights from a field experiment |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4792 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecs2.4792 |
genre |
Giant Petrels Wandering Albatross |
genre_facet |
Giant Petrels Wandering Albatross |
op_source |
Ecosphere volume 15, issue 2 ISSN 2150-8925 2150-8925 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4792 |
container_title |
Ecosphere |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
2 |
_version_ |
1810444843962335232 |