Invasive rodents, an overlooked threat for skinks in a tropical island hotspot of biodiversity
International audience Squamata are one of the most threatened groups among island vertebrates, facing high pressure from exotic species. However, the contribution of small terrestrial reptiles in invasive rodents' diet remains poorly investigated, partly because of the lack of tools for accura...
Published in: | New Zealand Journal of Ecology |
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Online Access: | https://hal.science/hal-01681556 https://hal.science/hal-01681556/document https://hal.science/hal-01681556/file/THIBAULT2017.pdf https://doi.org/10.20417/nzjecol.41.9 |
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ftunivaixmarseil:oai:HAL:hal-01681556v1 2024-04-28T08:36:56+00:00 Invasive rodents, an overlooked threat for skinks in a tropical island hotspot of biodiversity Thibault, Martin Brescia, Fabrice Jourdan, Herve Vidal, Eric Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) Institut Agronomique Néo-Calédonien (IAC) Institut méditerranéen de biodiversité et d'écologie marine et continentale (IMBE) Avignon Université (AU)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut de recherche pour le développement IRD : UMR237-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) 2017 https://hal.science/hal-01681556 https://hal.science/hal-01681556/document https://hal.science/hal-01681556/file/THIBAULT2017.pdf https://doi.org/10.20417/nzjecol.41.9 en eng HAL CCSD The New Zealand Ecological Society info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.20417/nzjecol.41.9 hal-01681556 https://hal.science/hal-01681556 https://hal.science/hal-01681556/document https://hal.science/hal-01681556/file/THIBAULT2017.pdf doi:10.20417/nzjecol.41.9 IRD: fdi:010069264 info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess ISSN: 0110-6465 New Zealand Journal of Ecology https://hal.science/hal-01681556 New Zealand Journal of Ecology, 2017, 41 (1), pp.74-83. ⟨10.20417/nzjecol.41.9⟩ island conservation endemic skinks Rattus rattus Rattus exulans diet analysis [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDV.EE.IEO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology environment/Symbiosis info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2017 ftunivaixmarseil https://doi.org/10.20417/nzjecol.41.9 2024-04-11T00:32:20Z International audience Squamata are one of the most threatened groups among island vertebrates, facing high pressure from exotic species. However, the contribution of small terrestrial reptiles in invasive rodents' diet remains poorly investigated, partly because of the lack of tools for accurately identifying chewed prey fragments in gut contents. The New Caledonia archipelago (South Pacific) hosts an exceptional terrestrial squamata fauna (105 species, 91.6% endemic) that are faced with many invasive species (rodents, feral cats, feral pigs, ants) and strong human pressures. Our study aimed to evaluate the frequency of occurrence of endemic skink remains by gut content analysis of two species of invasive rodents. Four rodent trapping sessions were implemented at two ultramafic sites and for two distinct habitats (closed canopy forest and open shrubland habitat). A total of 284 rats were trapped from two species (the ship rat Rattus rattus and the Pacific rat R. exulans) over 1200 trap nights. Combined analysis of stomach and caecum contents provided far more information than traditional stomach analysis alone. Analyses showed that 15.9% of rat samples included remains of at least 12 different skink species out of the 23 present. Six species are classified as threatened by the IUCN, the most endangered being Marmorosphax taom (CR) and Kanakysaurus viviparus (EN). This study provides new prospects for the assessment of invasive rodent impacts and new insights into the respective impacts of two sympatric invasive rodent species on native skinks. Article in Journal/Newspaper Rattus rattus Aix-Marseille Université: HAL New Zealand Journal of Ecology 41 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Aix-Marseille Université: HAL |
op_collection_id |
ftunivaixmarseil |
language |
English |
topic |
island conservation endemic skinks Rattus rattus Rattus exulans diet analysis [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDV.EE.IEO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology environment/Symbiosis |
spellingShingle |
island conservation endemic skinks Rattus rattus Rattus exulans diet analysis [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDV.EE.IEO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology environment/Symbiosis Thibault, Martin Brescia, Fabrice Jourdan, Herve Vidal, Eric Invasive rodents, an overlooked threat for skinks in a tropical island hotspot of biodiversity |
topic_facet |
island conservation endemic skinks Rattus rattus Rattus exulans diet analysis [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology [SDV.EE.IEO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology environment/Symbiosis |
description |
International audience Squamata are one of the most threatened groups among island vertebrates, facing high pressure from exotic species. However, the contribution of small terrestrial reptiles in invasive rodents' diet remains poorly investigated, partly because of the lack of tools for accurately identifying chewed prey fragments in gut contents. The New Caledonia archipelago (South Pacific) hosts an exceptional terrestrial squamata fauna (105 species, 91.6% endemic) that are faced with many invasive species (rodents, feral cats, feral pigs, ants) and strong human pressures. Our study aimed to evaluate the frequency of occurrence of endemic skink remains by gut content analysis of two species of invasive rodents. Four rodent trapping sessions were implemented at two ultramafic sites and for two distinct habitats (closed canopy forest and open shrubland habitat). A total of 284 rats were trapped from two species (the ship rat Rattus rattus and the Pacific rat R. exulans) over 1200 trap nights. Combined analysis of stomach and caecum contents provided far more information than traditional stomach analysis alone. Analyses showed that 15.9% of rat samples included remains of at least 12 different skink species out of the 23 present. Six species are classified as threatened by the IUCN, the most endangered being Marmorosphax taom (CR) and Kanakysaurus viviparus (EN). This study provides new prospects for the assessment of invasive rodent impacts and new insights into the respective impacts of two sympatric invasive rodent species on native skinks. |
author2 |
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) Institut Agronomique Néo-Calédonien (IAC) Institut méditerranéen de biodiversité et d'écologie marine et continentale (IMBE) Avignon Université (AU)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut de recherche pour le développement IRD : UMR237-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Thibault, Martin Brescia, Fabrice Jourdan, Herve Vidal, Eric |
author_facet |
Thibault, Martin Brescia, Fabrice Jourdan, Herve Vidal, Eric |
author_sort |
Thibault, Martin |
title |
Invasive rodents, an overlooked threat for skinks in a tropical island hotspot of biodiversity |
title_short |
Invasive rodents, an overlooked threat for skinks in a tropical island hotspot of biodiversity |
title_full |
Invasive rodents, an overlooked threat for skinks in a tropical island hotspot of biodiversity |
title_fullStr |
Invasive rodents, an overlooked threat for skinks in a tropical island hotspot of biodiversity |
title_full_unstemmed |
Invasive rodents, an overlooked threat for skinks in a tropical island hotspot of biodiversity |
title_sort |
invasive rodents, an overlooked threat for skinks in a tropical island hotspot of biodiversity |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-01681556 https://hal.science/hal-01681556/document https://hal.science/hal-01681556/file/THIBAULT2017.pdf https://doi.org/10.20417/nzjecol.41.9 |
genre |
Rattus rattus |
genre_facet |
Rattus rattus |
op_source |
ISSN: 0110-6465 New Zealand Journal of Ecology https://hal.science/hal-01681556 New Zealand Journal of Ecology, 2017, 41 (1), pp.74-83. ⟨10.20417/nzjecol.41.9⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.20417/nzjecol.41.9 hal-01681556 https://hal.science/hal-01681556 https://hal.science/hal-01681556/document https://hal.science/hal-01681556/file/THIBAULT2017.pdf doi:10.20417/nzjecol.41.9 IRD: fdi:010069264 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.20417/nzjecol.41.9 |
container_title |
New Zealand Journal of Ecology |
container_volume |
41 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1797568502137094144 |