Non‐native rats detected on uninhabited southern Grenadine islands with seabird colonies
Seabirds are among the most endangered avian groups, with populations declining worldwide because of various threats, including invasive nest predators. Similar decreasing trends are occurring in the Southern Grenadines; however, the causes of decline remain uncertain, although non‐native rats have...
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Online Access: | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8093698/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33976801 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7313 |
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ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:8093698 2023-05-15T18:05:21+02:00 Non‐native rats detected on uninhabited southern Grenadine islands with seabird colonies Smart, Wayne A. Collier, Natalia Rolland, Virginie 2021-03-09 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8093698/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33976801 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7313 en eng John Wiley and Sons Inc. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8093698/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33976801 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7313 © 2021 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. CC-BY Ecol Evol Original Research Text 2021 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7313 2021-05-16T00:30:51Z Seabirds are among the most endangered avian groups, with populations declining worldwide because of various threats, including invasive nest predators. Similar decreasing trends are occurring in the Southern Grenadines; however, the causes of decline remain uncertain, although non‐native rats have been suspected. Therefore, our objective was to determine whether non‐native rats are present on five Southern Grenadine islands that harbor seabird colonies, during May–July 2014–2017, using four methods (chew cards, tunnels, cameras, and questionnaires). Les Tantes East and Lee Rocks were the only two islands where cameras detected black rats (Rattus rattus). Although rat occupancy was low (0.125 ± 0.061) and the number of individuals and nesting attempts increased (except in 2017) for most species, the low detection probability and small number of nests prevented any inference about rat impact on seabirds. Rats might have affected seabird colonies, but other factors, such as seabird harvest, prey availability, or climatic fluctuations, could have also driven previous seabird population declines in the Southern Grenadines. However, non‐native rats are present and future research should focus on estimating their density and distribution on these and other islands of the region before an appropriate rat eradication program can be implemented. Text Rattus rattus PubMed Central (PMC) Ecology and Evolution 11 9 4172 4181 |
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Original Research Smart, Wayne A. Collier, Natalia Rolland, Virginie Non‐native rats detected on uninhabited southern Grenadine islands with seabird colonies |
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Original Research |
description |
Seabirds are among the most endangered avian groups, with populations declining worldwide because of various threats, including invasive nest predators. Similar decreasing trends are occurring in the Southern Grenadines; however, the causes of decline remain uncertain, although non‐native rats have been suspected. Therefore, our objective was to determine whether non‐native rats are present on five Southern Grenadine islands that harbor seabird colonies, during May–July 2014–2017, using four methods (chew cards, tunnels, cameras, and questionnaires). Les Tantes East and Lee Rocks were the only two islands where cameras detected black rats (Rattus rattus). Although rat occupancy was low (0.125 ± 0.061) and the number of individuals and nesting attempts increased (except in 2017) for most species, the low detection probability and small number of nests prevented any inference about rat impact on seabirds. Rats might have affected seabird colonies, but other factors, such as seabird harvest, prey availability, or climatic fluctuations, could have also driven previous seabird population declines in the Southern Grenadines. However, non‐native rats are present and future research should focus on estimating their density and distribution on these and other islands of the region before an appropriate rat eradication program can be implemented. |
format |
Text |
author |
Smart, Wayne A. Collier, Natalia Rolland, Virginie |
author_facet |
Smart, Wayne A. Collier, Natalia Rolland, Virginie |
author_sort |
Smart, Wayne A. |
title |
Non‐native rats detected on uninhabited southern Grenadine islands with seabird colonies |
title_short |
Non‐native rats detected on uninhabited southern Grenadine islands with seabird colonies |
title_full |
Non‐native rats detected on uninhabited southern Grenadine islands with seabird colonies |
title_fullStr |
Non‐native rats detected on uninhabited southern Grenadine islands with seabird colonies |
title_full_unstemmed |
Non‐native rats detected on uninhabited southern Grenadine islands with seabird colonies |
title_sort |
non‐native rats detected on uninhabited southern grenadine islands with seabird colonies |
publisher |
John Wiley and Sons Inc. |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8093698/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33976801 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7313 |
genre |
Rattus rattus |
genre_facet |
Rattus rattus |
op_source |
Ecol Evol |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8093698/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33976801 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7313 |
op_rights |
© 2021 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
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CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.7313 |
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Ecology and Evolution |
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11 |
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9 |
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4172 |
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4181 |
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1766176817136271360 |