Population status of four endemic land bird species after an unsuccessful rodent eradication on Henderson Island
Invasive rodents detrimentally affect native bird species on many islands worldwide, and rodent eradication is a useful tool to safeguard endemic and threatened species. However, especially on tropical islands, rodent eradications can fail for various reasons, and it is unclear whether the temporary...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270918000072 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/125325 |
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ftunivtasecite:oai:ecite.utas.edu.au:125325 2023-05-15T16:34:34+02:00 Population status of four endemic land bird species after an unsuccessful rodent eradication on Henderson Island Bond, AL Brooke, MDL Cuthbert, RJ Lavers, JL McClelland, GTW Churchyard, T Donaldson, A Duffield, N Forrest, A Harrison, G MacKinnon, L Proud, T Skinner, A Torr, N Vickery, JA Oppel, S 2018 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270918000072 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/125325 en eng Cambridge Univ Press http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0959270918000072 Bond, AL and Brooke, MDL and Cuthbert, RJ and Lavers, JL and McClelland, GTW and Churchyard, T and Donaldson, A and Duffield, N and Forrest, A and Harrison, G and MacKinnon, L and Proud, T and Skinner, A and Torr, N and Vickery, JA and Oppel, S, Population status of four endemic land bird species after an unsuccessful rodent eradication on Henderson Island, Bird Conservation International, 29, (1) pp. 124-135. ISSN 0959-2709 (2018) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/125325 Environmental Sciences Environmental management Conservation and biodiversity Refereed Article PeerReviewed 2018 ftunivtasecite https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270918000072 2022-07-11T22:16:48Z Invasive rodents detrimentally affect native bird species on many islands worldwide, and rodent eradication is a useful tool to safeguard endemic and threatened species. However, especially on tropical islands, rodent eradications can fail for various reasons, and it is unclear whether the temporary reduction of a rodent population during an unsuccessful eradication operation has beneficial effects on native birds. Here we examine the response of four endemic land bird species on subtropical Henderson Island in the Pitcairn Island Group, South Pacific Ocean, following an unsuccessful rodent eradication in 2011. We conducted point counts at 25 sampling locations in 14 survey periods between 2011 and 2015, and modelled the abundance trends of all species using binomial mixture models accounting for observer and environmental variation in detection probability. Henderson Reed Warbler Acrocephalus taiti more than doubled in abundance (2015 population estimate: 7,194-28,776), and Henderson Fruit Dove Ptilinopus insularis increased slightly between 2011 and 2015 (2015 population estimate: 4,47610,072), while we detected no change in abundance of the Henderson Lorikeet Vini stepheni (2015 population estimate: 5543014). Henderson Crake Zapornia atra increased to pre-eradication levels following anticipated mortality during the operation (2015 population estimate: 4,96020,783). A temporary reduction of rat predation pressure and rat competition for fruit may have benefitted the reed warbler and the fruit dove, respectively. However, a long drought may have naturally suppressed bird populations prior to the rat eradication operation in 2011, potentially confounding the effects of temporary rat reduction and natural recovery. We therefore cannot unequivocally ascribe the population recovery to the temporary reduction of the rat population. We encourage robust monitoring of island biodiversity both before and after any management operation to better understand responses of endemic species to failed or successful operations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Henderson Island eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) Henderson Island ENVELOPE(97.200,97.200,-66.367,-66.367) Many Islands ENVELOPE(-119.170,-119.170,56.317,56.317) Pacific Bird Conservation International 29 1 124 135 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
eCite UTAS (University of Tasmania) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtasecite |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental Sciences Environmental management Conservation and biodiversity |
spellingShingle |
Environmental Sciences Environmental management Conservation and biodiversity Bond, AL Brooke, MDL Cuthbert, RJ Lavers, JL McClelland, GTW Churchyard, T Donaldson, A Duffield, N Forrest, A Harrison, G MacKinnon, L Proud, T Skinner, A Torr, N Vickery, JA Oppel, S Population status of four endemic land bird species after an unsuccessful rodent eradication on Henderson Island |
topic_facet |
Environmental Sciences Environmental management Conservation and biodiversity |
description |
Invasive rodents detrimentally affect native bird species on many islands worldwide, and rodent eradication is a useful tool to safeguard endemic and threatened species. However, especially on tropical islands, rodent eradications can fail for various reasons, and it is unclear whether the temporary reduction of a rodent population during an unsuccessful eradication operation has beneficial effects on native birds. Here we examine the response of four endemic land bird species on subtropical Henderson Island in the Pitcairn Island Group, South Pacific Ocean, following an unsuccessful rodent eradication in 2011. We conducted point counts at 25 sampling locations in 14 survey periods between 2011 and 2015, and modelled the abundance trends of all species using binomial mixture models accounting for observer and environmental variation in detection probability. Henderson Reed Warbler Acrocephalus taiti more than doubled in abundance (2015 population estimate: 7,194-28,776), and Henderson Fruit Dove Ptilinopus insularis increased slightly between 2011 and 2015 (2015 population estimate: 4,47610,072), while we detected no change in abundance of the Henderson Lorikeet Vini stepheni (2015 population estimate: 5543014). Henderson Crake Zapornia atra increased to pre-eradication levels following anticipated mortality during the operation (2015 population estimate: 4,96020,783). A temporary reduction of rat predation pressure and rat competition for fruit may have benefitted the reed warbler and the fruit dove, respectively. However, a long drought may have naturally suppressed bird populations prior to the rat eradication operation in 2011, potentially confounding the effects of temporary rat reduction and natural recovery. We therefore cannot unequivocally ascribe the population recovery to the temporary reduction of the rat population. We encourage robust monitoring of island biodiversity both before and after any management operation to better understand responses of endemic species to failed or successful operations. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bond, AL Brooke, MDL Cuthbert, RJ Lavers, JL McClelland, GTW Churchyard, T Donaldson, A Duffield, N Forrest, A Harrison, G MacKinnon, L Proud, T Skinner, A Torr, N Vickery, JA Oppel, S |
author_facet |
Bond, AL Brooke, MDL Cuthbert, RJ Lavers, JL McClelland, GTW Churchyard, T Donaldson, A Duffield, N Forrest, A Harrison, G MacKinnon, L Proud, T Skinner, A Torr, N Vickery, JA Oppel, S |
author_sort |
Bond, AL |
title |
Population status of four endemic land bird species after an unsuccessful rodent eradication on Henderson Island |
title_short |
Population status of four endemic land bird species after an unsuccessful rodent eradication on Henderson Island |
title_full |
Population status of four endemic land bird species after an unsuccessful rodent eradication on Henderson Island |
title_fullStr |
Population status of four endemic land bird species after an unsuccessful rodent eradication on Henderson Island |
title_full_unstemmed |
Population status of four endemic land bird species after an unsuccessful rodent eradication on Henderson Island |
title_sort |
population status of four endemic land bird species after an unsuccessful rodent eradication on henderson island |
publisher |
Cambridge Univ Press |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270918000072 http://ecite.utas.edu.au/125325 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(97.200,97.200,-66.367,-66.367) ENVELOPE(-119.170,-119.170,56.317,56.317) |
geographic |
Henderson Island Many Islands Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Henderson Island Many Islands Pacific |
genre |
Henderson Island |
genre_facet |
Henderson Island |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0959270918000072 Bond, AL and Brooke, MDL and Cuthbert, RJ and Lavers, JL and McClelland, GTW and Churchyard, T and Donaldson, A and Duffield, N and Forrest, A and Harrison, G and MacKinnon, L and Proud, T and Skinner, A and Torr, N and Vickery, JA and Oppel, S, Population status of four endemic land bird species after an unsuccessful rodent eradication on Henderson Island, Bird Conservation International, 29, (1) pp. 124-135. ISSN 0959-2709 (2018) [Refereed Article] http://ecite.utas.edu.au/125325 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270918000072 |
container_title |
Bird Conservation International |
container_volume |
29 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
124 |
op_container_end_page |
135 |
_version_ |
1766024515053158400 |