Decline in the distribution and abundance of flesh-footed shearwaters (Puffinus carneipes) on Lord Howe Island, Australia

Priddel, David; Carlile, Nicholas; Fullagar, Peter; Hutton, I.; O’Neill, Lisa

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2005.10.007

Cited by 58 publications

(97 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…The length of burrows on Long Island is very similar to that of burrows on Tıtı Island, in Cook Strait, also in the Marlborough Sounds region (Geary 2010 (Powell et al 2007), to 120 AE 10 cm on Lord Howe Island (Priddel et al 2006). Measuring the depth of soil was beyond the scope of our study but we speculate that the prevalence of burrows near trees may be because the root system of the vegetation helps to stabilise the burrows.…”

Section: Architecture Habitat and Density Of Burrowssupporting

confidence: 54%

Breeding parameters of the Sooty Shearwater (Ardenna grisea) on Long Island, New Zealand

Geary

Corin²,

Nelson

2014

Emu - Austral Ornithology

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Abstract. The Sooty Shearwater (Ardenna grisea) is one of the better studied petrels of New Zealand. Although one of New Zealand's most abundant seabirds, smaller populations of Sooty Shearwaters may be less resilient to stochastic events in the long term. We investigated aspects of the breeding biology of Sooty Shearwaters and burrow dynamics on Long Island, in the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand, from November 2008 to May 2009. Burrows were usually simple and unbranched, with an average length of 83.6 cm (s.e. 4.3 cm). The incubation period was 54.3 days (s.e. 1 day) and the nestling period 104.5 days (s.e. 2 days). Breeding success was 40.1%, within the range expected based on published studies of other populations of Sooty Shearwaters and of congeners. This study paves the way for further investigation into the viability and persistence of a small island population.

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Section: Architecture Habitat and Density Of Burrowssupporting

confidence: 54%

Breeding parameters of the Sooty Shearwater (Ardenna grisea) on Long Island, New Zealand

Geary

Corin²,

Nelson

2014

Emu - Austral Ornithology

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“…The species is a trans-equatorial migrant that winters on both sides of the North Pacific Basin (Marchant & Higgins 1990). The population of Flesh-footed Shearwaters on Lord Howe Island, estimated to be approximately 17 500 pairs, has decreased substantially during the past few decades (Priddel et al 2006). Known causes of decline include mortality in long-line fishing (Baker & Wise 2005) and loss of nesting habitat (Priddel et al 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plastic ingestion by Flesh-footed Shearwaters, Puffinus carneipes, and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, Puffinus pacificus

Hutton¹,

Carlile²,

Priddel³

2008

PPRST

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The population of Flesh-footed Shearwaters, Puffinus carneipes, on Lord Howe Island, Australia, has decreased over recent decades. Known threats include long-line fishing and loss of nesting habitat. The recent occurrence of plastic debris in breeding colonies has raised concerns that plastic ingestion also may be contributing to the decline of this species. In this paper we investigate the extent of plastic ingestion by Flesh-footed and Wedge-tailed shearwaters, Puffinus pacijicus, on Lord Howe Island. The remains offailed Flesh-footed Shearwater fledglings contained substantial quantities of plastics: up to 37 cm 3 , equivalent to at least 31 % of proventricular capacity. Road-killed adults (n = 21) had no plastic in their provenrriculus. Provenrricular contents of near-fledged birds, obtained by non-lethal means, showed that 79% of Flesh-footed Shearwaters and 43% of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters contained plastics, in volumes of up to 18.0 cm 3 and 2.8 cm', respec tively. Plastic loads were significantly less in Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, the difference possibly due to different densities of plastic within the foraging locations of each species. The impact of plastic ingestion on the survival of Flesh-footed Shearwater chicks and fledglings, and the consequent impacts on the demography of the population are unknown and warrant further investigation.

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“…However, grey-faced petrels were by far the most abundant species on all islands, except for Ohinau, where fleshfooted shearwaters were most common (Buxton et al 2013b). Both species are relatively large (mean weight: grey-faced petrel 550 g and flesh-footed shearwater 700 g) and are thought to be less severely affected by the presence of Pacific rats (Priddel et al 2006). Uncommon species, such as Pycroft's petrel (150 g) and little shearwaters (240 g), are known to have lower productivity, even to the point of total nest failure, in the presence of Pacific rats (Pierce 2002).…”

Section: Potential Biasesmentioning

confidence: 98%

Release of constraints on nest-site selection in burrow-nesting petrels following invasive rat eradication

et al. 2014

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Introduced mammals have been eradicated from many offshore islands around the world, removing predation pressure from burrow-nesting seabirds and other affected wildlife. Nest-site selection in procellariiform seabirds is mediated by nesting habitat characteristics and social information, although it is unclear if, or how, nest-site selection will affect post-eradication colony growth. Using a Bayesian hierarchical modeling approach we assessed how nest-site selection differs among burrow-nesting seabird colonies at different stages of recovery after Pacific rat (Rattus exulans) eradication. We compared nest-site selection in a community of seven procellariiform species among six offshore islands in northeastern New Zealand: four designated rat-free over a continuum within the last 26 years, an island which never had rats, and an island with rats present. We hypothesized that, immediately after eradication, birds would be constrained to nesting habitat where they were less vulnerable to predation, and as time since eradication increased birds would eventually spread to new habitat. We found a positive relationship between mean burrow density and time since rat eradication. Soil depth was the most important predictor of burrow presence, abundance, and occupancy in plots among islands, with more burrows found in deeper soil. We found that the relationships between habitat covariates and nest-site selection decreased with increasing time since eradication. The probability of a covariate having a significant effect on nest-site selection decreased with increasing time since eradication and decreasing variability in the covariate across an island. Our results suggest that the eradication of rodents reduced constraints on petrel nesting distribution and that nest-site selection in burrow-nesting petrels may be influenced by burrow density, where selection of particular nesting habitat characteristics may be relatively more important in small recovering populations. We conclude that colony expansion immediately after predator removal is complex, influenced by numerous interacting factors, but may be partly limited by the availability of suitable nesting habitat.

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Decline in the distribution and abundance of flesh-footed shearwaters (Puffinus carneipes) on Lord Howe Island, Australia

Cited by 58 publications

References 22 publications

Breeding parameters of the Sooty Shearwater (Ardenna grisea) on Long Island, New Zealand

Breeding parameters of the Sooty Shearwater (Ardenna grisea) on Long Island, New Zealand

Plastic ingestion by Flesh-footed Shearwaters, Puffinus carneipes, and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, Puffinus pacificus

Release of constraints on nest-site selection in burrow-nesting petrels following invasive rat eradication

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