Stuck amongst introduced species: Trophic ecology reveals complex relationships between the critically endangered Niau kingfisher and introduced predators, competitors and prey

The introduction of mammals on oceanic islands currently threatens or has caused the extinction of many endemic species. Cats and rats represent the major threat for 40 % of currently endangered island bird species. Direct (predation) and/or indirect (exploitative competition for food resource) trop...

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Published in:NeoBiota
Main Authors: Diane Zarzoso-Lacoste, Elsa Bonnaud, Emmanuel Corse, Vincent Dubut, Olivier Lorvelec, Hélène De Meringo, Coralie Santelli, Jean-Yves Meunier, Thomas Ghestemme, Anne Gouni, Eric Vidal
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Pensoft Publishers 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.53.35086
https://doaj.org/article/2e23cc0e3f8040afa357433f38144b4b
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spelling ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:2e23cc0e3f8040afa357433f38144b4b 2023-05-15T18:05:34+02:00 Stuck amongst introduced species: Trophic ecology reveals complex relationships between the critically endangered Niau kingfisher and introduced predators, competitors and prey Diane Zarzoso-Lacoste Elsa Bonnaud Emmanuel Corse Vincent Dubut Olivier Lorvelec Hélène De Meringo Coralie Santelli Jean-Yves Meunier Thomas Ghestemme Anne Gouni Eric Vidal 2019-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.53.35086 https://doaj.org/article/2e23cc0e3f8040afa357433f38144b4b EN eng Pensoft Publishers https://neobiota.pensoft.net/article/35086/download/pdf/ https://neobiota.pensoft.net/article/35086/download/xml/ https://neobiota.pensoft.net/article/35086/ https://doaj.org/toc/1619-0033 https://doaj.org/toc/1314-2488 doi:10.3897/neobiota.53.35086 1314-2488 1619-0033 https://doaj.org/article/2e23cc0e3f8040afa357433f38144b4b NeoBiota, Vol 53, Iss , Pp 61-82 (2019) Biology (General) QH301-705.5 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.53.35086 2022-12-31T01:52:42Z The introduction of mammals on oceanic islands currently threatens or has caused the extinction of many endemic species. Cats and rats represent the major threat for 40 % of currently endangered island bird species. Direct (predation) and/or indirect (exploitative competition for food resource) trophic interactions are key mechanisms by which invaders cause the decrease or extinction of native populations. Here, we investigated both direct and indirect trophic interactions amongst four predator species (i.e. animals that hunt, kill and feed on other animals), including three introduced mammals (Felis silvestris catus, Rattus rattus and Rattus exulans) and one critically endangered native bird, the Niau kingfisher (Todiramphus gertrudae). All four species’ diets and prey availability were assessed from sampling at the six main kingfisher habitats on Niau Island during the breeding season. Diet analyses were conducted on 578 cat scats, 295 rat digestive tracts (218 R. exulans and 77 R. rattus) and 186 kingfisher pellets. Despite simultaneous use of morphological and PCR-based methods, no bird remains in cat and rat diet samples could be assigned to the Niau kingfisher, weakening the hypothesis of current intense predation pressure. However, we determined that Niau kingfishers mainly feed on introduced and/or cryptogenic prey and highlighted the potential for exploitative competition between this bird and both introduced rat species (for Dictyoptera, Coleoptera and Scincidae). We recommend removing the cats and both rat species, at least within kingfisher breeding and foraging areas (e.g. mechanical or chemical control, cat sterilisation, biosecurity reinforcement), to simultaneously decrease predation risk, increase key prey availability and boost kingfisher population dynamics. Article in Journal/Newspaper Rattus rattus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles NeoBiota 53 61 82
institution Open Polar
collection Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles
op_collection_id ftdoajarticles
language English
topic Biology (General)
QH301-705.5
spellingShingle Biology (General)
QH301-705.5
Diane Zarzoso-Lacoste
Elsa Bonnaud
Emmanuel Corse
Vincent Dubut
Olivier Lorvelec
Hélène De Meringo
Coralie Santelli
Jean-Yves Meunier
Thomas Ghestemme
Anne Gouni
Eric Vidal
Stuck amongst introduced species: Trophic ecology reveals complex relationships between the critically endangered Niau kingfisher and introduced predators, competitors and prey
topic_facet Biology (General)
QH301-705.5
description The introduction of mammals on oceanic islands currently threatens or has caused the extinction of many endemic species. Cats and rats represent the major threat for 40 % of currently endangered island bird species. Direct (predation) and/or indirect (exploitative competition for food resource) trophic interactions are key mechanisms by which invaders cause the decrease or extinction of native populations. Here, we investigated both direct and indirect trophic interactions amongst four predator species (i.e. animals that hunt, kill and feed on other animals), including three introduced mammals (Felis silvestris catus, Rattus rattus and Rattus exulans) and one critically endangered native bird, the Niau kingfisher (Todiramphus gertrudae). All four species’ diets and prey availability were assessed from sampling at the six main kingfisher habitats on Niau Island during the breeding season. Diet analyses were conducted on 578 cat scats, 295 rat digestive tracts (218 R. exulans and 77 R. rattus) and 186 kingfisher pellets. Despite simultaneous use of morphological and PCR-based methods, no bird remains in cat and rat diet samples could be assigned to the Niau kingfisher, weakening the hypothesis of current intense predation pressure. However, we determined that Niau kingfishers mainly feed on introduced and/or cryptogenic prey and highlighted the potential for exploitative competition between this bird and both introduced rat species (for Dictyoptera, Coleoptera and Scincidae). We recommend removing the cats and both rat species, at least within kingfisher breeding and foraging areas (e.g. mechanical or chemical control, cat sterilisation, biosecurity reinforcement), to simultaneously decrease predation risk, increase key prey availability and boost kingfisher population dynamics.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Diane Zarzoso-Lacoste
Elsa Bonnaud
Emmanuel Corse
Vincent Dubut
Olivier Lorvelec
Hélène De Meringo
Coralie Santelli
Jean-Yves Meunier
Thomas Ghestemme
Anne Gouni
Eric Vidal
author_facet Diane Zarzoso-Lacoste
Elsa Bonnaud
Emmanuel Corse
Vincent Dubut
Olivier Lorvelec
Hélène De Meringo
Coralie Santelli
Jean-Yves Meunier
Thomas Ghestemme
Anne Gouni
Eric Vidal
author_sort Diane Zarzoso-Lacoste
title Stuck amongst introduced species: Trophic ecology reveals complex relationships between the critically endangered Niau kingfisher and introduced predators, competitors and prey
title_short Stuck amongst introduced species: Trophic ecology reveals complex relationships between the critically endangered Niau kingfisher and introduced predators, competitors and prey
title_full Stuck amongst introduced species: Trophic ecology reveals complex relationships between the critically endangered Niau kingfisher and introduced predators, competitors and prey
title_fullStr Stuck amongst introduced species: Trophic ecology reveals complex relationships between the critically endangered Niau kingfisher and introduced predators, competitors and prey
title_full_unstemmed Stuck amongst introduced species: Trophic ecology reveals complex relationships between the critically endangered Niau kingfisher and introduced predators, competitors and prey
title_sort stuck amongst introduced species: trophic ecology reveals complex relationships between the critically endangered niau kingfisher and introduced predators, competitors and prey
publisher Pensoft Publishers
publishDate 2019
url https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.53.35086
https://doaj.org/article/2e23cc0e3f8040afa357433f38144b4b
genre Rattus rattus
genre_facet Rattus rattus
op_source NeoBiota, Vol 53, Iss , Pp 61-82 (2019)
op_relation https://neobiota.pensoft.net/article/35086/download/pdf/
https://neobiota.pensoft.net/article/35086/download/xml/
https://neobiota.pensoft.net/article/35086/
https://doaj.org/toc/1619-0033
https://doaj.org/toc/1314-2488
doi:10.3897/neobiota.53.35086
1314-2488
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op_doi https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.53.35086
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