Do introduced mammals chronically impact the breeding success of the world's rarest albatross?

• Published in: Ornithological Science
• Main Authors: Thiebot, Jean-Baptiste, Barbraud, Christophe, Delord, Karine, Marteau, Cédric, Weimerskirch, Henri
• Other Authors: Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises (T.A.A.F.), Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises, Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Université de La Rochelle (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2014
• Subjects: seabird; invasive species; camera-trapping; conservation; Amsterdam Albatross Diomedea amsterdamensis; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Rattus rattus
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00945427; https://doi.org/10.2326/osj.13.41

Introduced mammals may have deleterious effects on avifauna. We investigated whether such species may be affecting the breeding success of the critically endangered Amsterdam Albatrosses Diomedea amsterdamensis on its remote breeding island. Twelve camera-traps deployed near albatross nests during the chick Rattus rattus, but without revealing evidence of any direct interaction between the Our survey suggests that introduced mammals may not currently represent a primary direct threat to this population, but they might amplify the risks of chick mortality in case of disease outbreaks.