Demography of a Reintroduced Population of Evermann's Rock Ptarmigan in the Aleutian Islands
We report results of a 4-year translocation effort to reestablish a breeding population of Evermann’s Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta evermanni) in the Near Islands group of the western Aleutian Archipelago. Habitat restoration was completed by eradication of introduced foxes from Agattu Island by 1979...
Main Authors: | , , , |
---|---|
Other Authors: | |
Format: | Other/Unknown Material |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
2010
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/2097/8166 |
id |
ftkansassu:oai:krex.k-state.edu:2097/8166 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftkansassu:oai:krex.k-state.edu:2097/8166 2023-05-15T13:07:22+02:00 Demography of a Reintroduced Population of Evermann's Rock Ptarmigan in the Aleutian Islands Kaler, Robb S. Ebbert, Steve E. Braun, Clait E. Sandercock, Brett K. bsanderc 2010 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/2097/8166 unknown http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1676/08-099.1 http://hdl.handle.net/2097/8166 Translocation Introduced Population Lagopus-Mutus Nest Survival Ptarmigan Aleutian Archipelago Article (publisher version) 2010 ftkansassu 2022-03-05T18:32:08Z We report results of a 4-year translocation effort to reestablish a breeding population of Evermann’s Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta evermanni) in the Near Islands group of the western Aleutian Archipelago. Habitat restoration was completed by eradication of introduced foxes from Agattu Island by 1979. We captured and moved 75 ptarmigan from Attu Island to Agattu Island during 2003–2006, nd monitored 29 radio-marked females in the last 2 years of the study. We compared the demography of newly translocated birds (n 5 13) with resident birds established from translocations in previous years (n 5 16). Mortality risk was increased by translocation and 15% of females died within 2 weeks of release at Agattu Island. All surviving females attempted to nest but initiated clutches 8 days later in the breeding season and laid 1.5 fewer eggs per clutch than resident females. Probability of nest survival (x¯ 6 SE) was good for both translocated (0.72 6 0.17) and resident females (0.50 6 0.16), and renests were rare. Probability of brood survival was higher among translocated (0.85 6 0.14) than resident females (0.25 6 0.12), partly as a result of inclement weather in 2006. Fecundity, estimated as female fledglings per breeding female, was relatively low for both translocated (0.9 6 0.3)and resident females (0.3 6 0.2). No mortalities occurred among radio-marked female ptarmigan during the 10-week breeding season, and the probability of annual survival for females in 2005–2006 was between 0.38 and 0.75. Translocations were successful because females survived, successfully nested, and recruited offspring during the establishment stage. Post-release monitoring provided useful demographic data in this study and should be a key component of translocation programs for wildlife restoration. Future population surveys and additional translocations may be required to ensure long-term viability of the reintroduced population of ptarmigan at Agattu Island. Other/Unknown Material Agattu Attu Lagopus muta Lagopus mutus rock ptarmigan Aleutian Islands Kansas State University: K-State Research Exchange (K-REx) Agattu Island ENVELOPE(173.601,173.601,52.435,52.435) Attu Island ENVELOPE(172.909,172.909,52.903,52.903) Near Islands ENVELOPE(173.132,173.132,52.801,52.801) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Kansas State University: K-State Research Exchange (K-REx) |
op_collection_id |
ftkansassu |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Translocation Introduced Population Lagopus-Mutus Nest Survival Ptarmigan Aleutian Archipelago |
spellingShingle |
Translocation Introduced Population Lagopus-Mutus Nest Survival Ptarmigan Aleutian Archipelago Kaler, Robb S. Ebbert, Steve E. Braun, Clait E. Sandercock, Brett K. Demography of a Reintroduced Population of Evermann's Rock Ptarmigan in the Aleutian Islands |
topic_facet |
Translocation Introduced Population Lagopus-Mutus Nest Survival Ptarmigan Aleutian Archipelago |
description |
We report results of a 4-year translocation effort to reestablish a breeding population of Evermann’s Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta evermanni) in the Near Islands group of the western Aleutian Archipelago. Habitat restoration was completed by eradication of introduced foxes from Agattu Island by 1979. We captured and moved 75 ptarmigan from Attu Island to Agattu Island during 2003–2006, nd monitored 29 radio-marked females in the last 2 years of the study. We compared the demography of newly translocated birds (n 5 13) with resident birds established from translocations in previous years (n 5 16). Mortality risk was increased by translocation and 15% of females died within 2 weeks of release at Agattu Island. All surviving females attempted to nest but initiated clutches 8 days later in the breeding season and laid 1.5 fewer eggs per clutch than resident females. Probability of nest survival (x¯ 6 SE) was good for both translocated (0.72 6 0.17) and resident females (0.50 6 0.16), and renests were rare. Probability of brood survival was higher among translocated (0.85 6 0.14) than resident females (0.25 6 0.12), partly as a result of inclement weather in 2006. Fecundity, estimated as female fledglings per breeding female, was relatively low for both translocated (0.9 6 0.3)and resident females (0.3 6 0.2). No mortalities occurred among radio-marked female ptarmigan during the 10-week breeding season, and the probability of annual survival for females in 2005–2006 was between 0.38 and 0.75. Translocations were successful because females survived, successfully nested, and recruited offspring during the establishment stage. Post-release monitoring provided useful demographic data in this study and should be a key component of translocation programs for wildlife restoration. Future population surveys and additional translocations may be required to ensure long-term viability of the reintroduced population of ptarmigan at Agattu Island. |
author2 |
bsanderc |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Kaler, Robb S. Ebbert, Steve E. Braun, Clait E. Sandercock, Brett K. |
author_facet |
Kaler, Robb S. Ebbert, Steve E. Braun, Clait E. Sandercock, Brett K. |
author_sort |
Kaler, Robb S. |
title |
Demography of a Reintroduced Population of Evermann's Rock Ptarmigan in the Aleutian Islands |
title_short |
Demography of a Reintroduced Population of Evermann's Rock Ptarmigan in the Aleutian Islands |
title_full |
Demography of a Reintroduced Population of Evermann's Rock Ptarmigan in the Aleutian Islands |
title_fullStr |
Demography of a Reintroduced Population of Evermann's Rock Ptarmigan in the Aleutian Islands |
title_full_unstemmed |
Demography of a Reintroduced Population of Evermann's Rock Ptarmigan in the Aleutian Islands |
title_sort |
demography of a reintroduced population of evermann's rock ptarmigan in the aleutian islands |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2097/8166 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(173.601,173.601,52.435,52.435) ENVELOPE(172.909,172.909,52.903,52.903) ENVELOPE(173.132,173.132,52.801,52.801) |
geographic |
Agattu Island Attu Island Near Islands |
geographic_facet |
Agattu Island Attu Island Near Islands |
genre |
Agattu Attu Lagopus muta Lagopus mutus rock ptarmigan Aleutian Islands |
genre_facet |
Agattu Attu Lagopus muta Lagopus mutus rock ptarmigan Aleutian Islands |
op_relation |
http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1676/08-099.1 http://hdl.handle.net/2097/8166 |
_version_ |
1766048703542460416 |