Advances in New Zealand mammalogy 1990–2000: Hedgehog

Moss, Kirsten; Sanders, Mark

doi:10.1080/03014223.2001.9517637

Cited by 14 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Humans introduced hedgehogs to these islands in 1974 (Morton, 1982). Similar conservation problems have been demonstrated from islands elsewhere in Europe and in New Zealand where introduced hedgehogs have established (Grosskopf, 1989; Warwick, 1992; Dowding & Murphy, 2001; Moss & Sanders, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 65%

“…Morris, 1988; Doncaster, 1994), but when the methodological differences noted above are taken into account the densities on the machair appear to be unusually high. Unusually high densities have also been reported from other islands where hedgehogs have been introduced: for example, at least 52 animals km −2 on North Ronaldsay, Orkney (Warwick, 1992), and in New Zealand there are many reports of high densities, some of these exceeding 200 animals km −2 (Parkes, 1975; Moss & Sanders, 2001).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Factors affecting the abundance of introduced hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) to the Hebridean island of South Uist in the absence of natural predators and implications for nesting birds

Jackson

2006

Journal of Zoology

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Introduced hedgehogs Erinaceus europaeus are a known threat to ground-nesting birds on many islands. Spring hedgehog density and sex ratio were measured over a 5-year period at four plots on the 315 km 2 Hebridean island of South Uist. The mean instantaneous density on the sandy-soiled machair plots (31.8 hedgehogs km À2 , SE 2.95) was over twice that on the peaty-soiled blackland plots (15.4 hedgehogs km À2 , SE 3.46), a difference reflecting the amount of preferred foraging habitat (mainly pasture). Plot population densities fluctuated approximately in unison. Year-to-year density changes were strongly correlated with temperature in the preceding winter and previous year's spring/summer, indicating that warmer conditions promote both survival and breeding success. The mean spring sex ratio of sub-adults (animals born in the previous calendar year) was not significantly different from 1M:1F. However, the 1.8M:1F ratio observed for adults was significantly male biased, probably a result of female mortality associated with rearing young. The study estimates that in an average year the South Uist hedgehog population numbers c. 2750 (95% confidence limit AE 800) adults and sub-adults and these produce around 3000 young. Compared with the native range, hedgehog densities on South Uist are shown to be unusually high, probably because their natural predators are absent. High hedgehog densities have led directly to high rates of egg predation of ground-nesting shorebirds and subsequent declines in bird populations. The results suggest that over the past 20 years egg losses have become more severe and control of hedgehogs more difficult because climate warming has resulted in generally more favourable conditions for hedgehogs on the islands.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 65%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Factors affecting the abundance of introduced hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) to the Hebridean island of South Uist in the absence of natural predators and implications for nesting birds

Jackson

2006

Journal of Zoology

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“…We had no measure of whether or not the pest control operation reduced their local abundance. The eggs of some native ground nesting birds are vulnerable to predation by hedgehogs (Moss & Sanders 2001;Sanders & Maloney 2002), but we did not see evidence of this at Trounson. In the future, however, we may consider options for monitoring and/or managing hedgehog populations.…”

Section: Pest Controlmentioning

confidence: 59%

Six years of intensive pest mammal control at Trounson Kauri Park, a Department of Conservation “mainland island”, June 1996—July 2002

Gillies¹,

Leach²,

Coad³

et al. 2003

New Zealand Journal of Zoology

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Trounson Kauri Park is a 445-ha fragment of kauri-podocarp forest located in western Northland, New Zealand, and is one of a series of "mainland island" ecosystem restoration projects managed by the Department of Conservation. One of the main objectives at Trounson is to reduce introduced mammalian pest numbers to a level that would allow recovery of those native species still present in the park and allow the reintroduction of local or regionally extinct species.Brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) and rodents (ship rats, Rattus rattus, Norway rats, R. norvegicus, and mice, Mus musculus) were targeted in poison baiting operations using 1080, various anticoagulants, cholecalciferol or cyanide pellets laid in bait stations within the park. These operations suppressed possum and rat numbers to low levels, but mouse numbers were reduced only for short periods. The reduction in possum and rat numbers allowed significant seasonal increases in kukupa (New Zealand wood pigeon, Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae) abundance. Feral cats (Felis catus) and mustelids (stoats, Mustela erminea, weasels, M. nivalis, and ferrets, M.furo) were trapped around the forest boundaries and at key locations within and around the park.The predator trapping consistently provided predation relief for North Island brown kiwi (Apteryx australis mantelli) chicks, which are extremely vulnerable to predation by stoats, such that enough survived in order to sustain and increase the size of the adult population. Attempts were made to reestablish breeding populations of North Island robins (Petroica australis longipes), North Island kokako (Callaeas cinerea wilsoni), and brown teal (Anas aucklandica chlorotis) (three species of locally extinct native birds) to Trounson, but these were only partially successful at best.

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“…Norbury, unpublished data), whereas Dotterel nests occur at densities of 10-70 nests/km 2 (Norbury and Heyward 2008) and can be found spread across the floodplain along several kilometers of riverbed (Keedwell 2002). The daily foraging ranges of predators span several orders of magnitude (hedgehogs, 0.4-2.2 km/d [Moss and Sanders 2001]; feral cats, 2.1-6.5 km/d [Recio et al 2010]).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling habituation of introduced predators to unrewarding bird odors for conservation of ground‐nesting shorebirds

Latham

Anderson

Norbury

et al. 2018

Ecological Applications

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Foraging mammalian predators face a myriad of odors from potential prey. To be efficient, they must focus on rewarding odors while ignoring consistently unrewarding ones. This may be exploited as a nonlethal conservation tool if predators can be deceived into ignoring odors of vulnerable secondary prey. To explore critical design components and assess the potential gains to prey survival of this technique, we created an individual‐based model that simulated the hunting behavior of three introduced mammalian predators on one of their secondary prey (a migratory shorebird) in the South Island of New Zealand. Within this model, we heuristically assessed the outcome of habituating the predators to human‐deployed unrewarding bird odors before the bird's arrival at their breeding grounds, i.e., the predators were “primed.” Using known home range sizes and probabilities of predators interacting with food lures, our model suggests that wide‐ranging predators should encounter a relatively large number of odor points (between 10 and 115) during 27 d of priming when odor is deployed within high‐resolution grids (100–150 m). Using this information, we then modeled the effect of different habituation curves (exponential and sigmoidal) on the probability of predators depredating shorebird nests. Our results show that important gains in nest survival can be achieved regardless of the shape of the habituation curve, but particularly if predators are fast olfactory learners (exponential curve), and even if some level of dishabituation occurs after prey become available. Predictions from our model can inform the amount and pattern in which olfactory stimuli need to be deployed in the field to optimize encounters by predators, and the relative gains that can be expected from reduced predation pressure on secondary prey under different scenarios of predator learning. Habituating predators to odors of threatened secondary prey may have particular efficacy as a conservation tool in areas where lethal predator control is not possible or ethical, or where even low predator densities can be detrimental to prey survival. Our approach is also relevant for determining interaction probabilities for devices other than odor points, such as bait stations and camera traps.

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Advances in New Zealand mammalogy 1990–2000: Hedgehog

Cited by 14 publications

References 20 publications

Factors affecting the abundance of introduced hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) to the Hebridean island of South Uist in the absence of natural predators and implications for nesting birds

Factors affecting the abundance of introduced hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) to the Hebridean island of South Uist in the absence of natural predators and implications for nesting birds

Six years of intensive pest mammal control at Trounson Kauri Park, a Department of Conservation “mainland island”, June 1996—July 2002

Modeling habituation of introduced predators to unrewarding bird odors for conservation of ground‐nesting shorebirds

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