Effects of surgically implanted transmitters on reproduction and survival in mallards

Sheppard, Jennifer L.; Arnold, Todd W.; Amundson, Courtney L.; Klee, David

doi:10.1002/wsb.809

Cited by 4 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…During 2014–2015, we captured 243 pre-breeding mallards throughout two study areas in New Zealand (Fig. 1 in Sheppard et al, 2017 ). One site was located on the South Island, approximately 30 km north of Invercargill in the Southland District of the Southland Region (SOU) and another on the North Island, approximately 20 km south of Hamilton in the Waipa District of the Waikato Region (WAI).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We baited sites from six weeks prior to trapping through to completion of trapping (SOU 2014 : 5 July–17 July; SOU 2015 : 3 July–15 July; WAI 2014 : 4 June–22 June; WAI 2015 : 2 June–17 June) during which we re-baited the traps every 1–3 days. Once trapping commenced, we closed the traps each morning and transferred females to communal holding pens to await processing and surgical implantation of a 22 g intra-abdominal radio-transmitter as part of an associated study ( Sheppard, 2017 ; Sheppard et al, 2017 ). We layered holding pens with a sheet of plastic to collect faecal samples (2015 only) and prevent the contamination from foreign material already on the ground.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We layered holding pens with a sheet of plastic to collect faecal samples (2015 only) and prevent the contamination from foreign material already on the ground. Once females were equipped with the transmitter, we placed them in solitary recovery pens for at least 45 min then released them back into the wild (see Sheppard et al, 2017 for details). In both years, trapping continued until ∼60 females per site were marked (5–19 days).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Endozoochory by mallard in New Zealand: what seeds are dispersed and how far?

Bartel

Sheppard

Lovas‐Kiss

et al. 2018

PeerJ

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In Europe and North America waterfowl are major dispersers of aquatic and terrestrial plants, but in New Zealand their role has yet to be investigated. Mallards were introduced to New Zealand in the late 1800s, and today they are the most abundant and widespread waterfowl in the country. To assess seed dispersal, we radiomarked 284 female mallards from two study sites during the pre-breeding (June–August) and breeding (August–December) periods in 2014–2015, and examined movements that occurred within 24, 48 or 72 h when seed dispersal by endozoochory is considered likely. During June and July 2015, we collected 29 faecal samples from individual female mallards during radiomarking and 24 samples from mallard flocks. We recovered 69 intact seeds from the faecal samples and identified 12 plant taxa. Of the plant seeds identified and dispersed by mallards in this study, 40% were members of the Asteraceae family, nine plant species were alien to New Zealand, and the indigenous-status of three unidentified taxa could not be determined. Two taxa (and 9% of seeds) were germinated following gut passage: an unidentified Asteraceae and Solanum nigrum. During the pre-breeding and breeding periods, movement of females within 24 h averaged 394 m (SD = 706 m) and 222 m (SD = 605 m) respectively, with maximum distances of 3,970 m and 8,028 m. Maxima extended to 19,230 m within 48 h. Most plant species recorded are generally assumed to be self-dispersed or dispersed by water; mechanisms that provide a much lower maximum dispersal distance than mallards. The ability of mallards to disperse viable seeds up to 19 km within 48 h suggests they have an important and previously overlooked role as vectors for a variety of wetland or grassland plant species in New Zealand.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Endozoochory by mallard in New Zealand: what seeds are dispersed and how far?

Bartel

Sheppard

Lovas‐Kiss

et al. 2018

PeerJ

Self Cite

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“…In accordance with this, welfare is often evaluated at the population level and using variables chiefly related to the physical state or biological function of the animals. At the most general level, welfare may be extrapolated from measures of survival and reproductive success, i.e., “ fitness” [e.g., ( 79 – 86 )].…”

Section: Conception Of Animal Welfare Influences Its Evaluation and Ementioning

confidence: 99%

“Feelings and Fitness” Not “Feelings or Fitness”–The Raison d'être of Conservation Welfare, Which Aligns Conservation and Animal Welfare Objectives

et al. 2018

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Increasingly, human activities, including those aimed at conserving species and ecosystems (conservation activities) influence not only the survival and fitness but also the welfare of wild animals. Animal welfare relates to how an animal is experiencing its life and encompasses both its physical and mental states. While conservation biology and animal welfare science are both multi-disciplinary fields that use scientific methods to address concerns about animals, their focus and objectives sometimes appear to conflict. However, activities impacting detrimentally on the welfare of individual animals also hamper achievement of some conservation goals, and societal acceptance is imperative to the continuation of conservation activities. Thus, the best outcomes for both disciplines will be achieved through collaboration and knowledge-sharing. Despite this recognition, cross-disciplinary information-sharing and collaborative research and practice in conservation are still rare, with the exception of the zoo context. This paper summarizes key points developed by a group of conservation and animal welfare scientists discussing scientific assessment of wild animal welfare and barriers to progress. The dominant theme emerging was the need for a common language to facilitate cross-disciplinary progress in understanding and safeguarding the welfare of animals of wild species. Current conceptions of welfare implicit in conservation science, based mainly on “fitness” (physical states), need to be aligned with contemporary animal welfare science concepts which emphasize the dynamic integration of “fitness” and “feelings” (mental experiences) to holistically understand animals' welfare states. The way in which animal welfare is characterized influences the way it is evaluated and the emphasis put on different features of welfare, as well as, the importance placed on the outcomes of such evaluations and how that information is used, for example in policy development and decision-making. Salient examples from the New Zealand and Australian context are presented to illustrate. To genuinely progress our understanding and evaluation of wild animal welfare and optimize the aims of both scientific disciplines, conservation and animal welfare scientists should work together to evolve and apply a common understanding of welfare. To facilitate this, we propose the formal development of a new discipline, Conservation Welfare, integrating the expertise of scientists from both fields.

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“…1 in Sheppard et al . ). Both areas were characterized by flat to gently undulating landscapes that had been heavily modified by agriculture and grazing (predominately sheep in SOU and dairy cattle in WAI).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Nesting ecology of a naturalized population of MallardsAnas platyrhynchosin New Zealand

Sheppard

Amundson

Arnold

et al. 2018

Ibis

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Investigating the reproductive ecology of naturalized species provides insights into the role of the source population's characteristics vs. post-release adaptation that influence the success of introduction programmes. Introduced and naturalized Mallards Anas platyrhynchos are widely established in New Zealand (NZ), but little is known regarding their reproductive ecology. We evaluated the nesting ecology of female Mallards at two study sites in NZ (Southland and Waikato) in 2014-15. We radiotagged 241 pre-breeding females with abdominal-implant transmitters and measured breeding incidence, nesting chronology and re-nesting propensity. We monitored 271 nests to evaluate nest survival, clutch and egg size, egg hatchability and partial clutch depredation. Breeding incidence averaged (mean AE se) 0.91 AE 0.03, clutch size averaged 9.9 AE 0.1 eggs, 94 AE 2% of eggs hatched in successful nests, partial depredation affected 6 AE 1% of eggs in clutches that were not fully destroyed by predators, and re-nesting propensity following failure of nests or broods was 0.50 AE 0.003. Nesting season (first nest initiated to last nest hatched) lasted 4.5 months and mean initiation date of first detected nest attempts was 28 August AE 3.3 days. Smaller females were less likely to nest, but older, larger or better condition females nested earlier, re-nested more often and laid larger clutches than did younger, smaller or poorer condition females. Younger females in Southland had higher nest survival; cumulative nest survival ranged from 0.25 AE 0.007 for adult females in Waikato to 0.50 AE 0.007 for yearling females in Southland. Compared with Mallards in their native range, the nesting season in NZ was longer, clutches and eggs were larger, and nest survival was generally greater. Different predators and climate, introgression with native heterospecifics and/or the sedentary nature of Mallards in NZ may have contributed to these differences.

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Effects of surgically implanted transmitters on reproduction and survival in mallards

Cited by 4 publications

References 42 publications

Endozoochory by mallard in New Zealand: what seeds are dispersed and how far?

Endozoochory by mallard in New Zealand: what seeds are dispersed and how far?

“Feelings and Fitness” Not “Feelings or Fitness”–The Raison d'être of Conservation Welfare, Which Aligns Conservation and Animal Welfare Objectives

Nesting ecology of a naturalized population of MallardsAnas platyrhynchosin New Zealand

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