Invasive species threats to seabirds

Spatz, Dena R.; Jones, Holly P.; Bonnaud, Elsa; Kappes, Peter J.; Holmes, Nick D.; Guzmán, Yuliana Bedolla

doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-88539-3.00017-0

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 159 publications

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“…Globally, the population of many bird species is declining (Ogada & Buij, 2011 ; Seress et al., 2012 ), and currently around 13% of total assessed bird species are facing extinction threats (BirdLife International, 2022 ). This decline is mainly due to various factors such as hunting, habitat loss, climate change, invasive alien species, some farmland practices, including crop intensification and agrochemical use, environmental pollution and poisoning, and infrastructure development (Clavero et al., 2009 ; Katuwal et al., 2023 ; Kociolek et al., 2011 ; Prakash et al., 2003 ; Seress et al., 2012 ; Spatz et al., 2023 ). Among these affected species, the Sarus crane ( Grus antigone ) in South Asia faces considerable challenges, especially in agricultural–wetland habitats, risking its survival (Inskipp et al., 2016 ; Katuwal et al., 2022 ; Sundar, 2011 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population and conservation threats to the vulnerable Sarus crane Grus antigone in Nepal

Sharma,

Katuwal,

Regmi

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

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Globally, biodiversity is declining due to habitat loss and degradation, over‐exploitation, climate change, invasive species, pollution, and infrastructure development. These threats affect the populations of large waterbird species, such as Sarus crane (Grus antigone), which inhabits agricultural–wetland ecosystems. Despite the burgeoning built‐up areas and diminishing agricultural and wetland spaces, scant research investigates the impact of these changing land uses on the globally vulnerable Sarus crane in Nepal. During the pre‐breeding season from April to June 2023, our comprehensive study meticulously scrutinized Sarus crane population status and factors associated with the occurrences and conservation challenges across 10 specific districts of Nepal. Our study documented a total of 690 individuals of Sarus cranes in five districts. The Lumbini Province has 685 individuals, occupying 11 roosting sites. Conversely, the remaining five districts have no Sarus cranes presence during this period. Wetland, farmland and built‐up areas exhibited a significantly positive influence on Sarus crane occurrences in the Lumbini Province. Additionally, we recorded 47 fatalities of Sarus cranes over the past 13 years in the Lumbini Province due to electrocution and collisions. Our study provides a baseline dataset crucial for developing conservation policies, particularly during the dry season when Sarus crane populations tend to congregate in larger flocks. The adaptation of the Sarus crane to urbanized landscapes exposes them to several anthropogenic threats in the coming days. Therefore, protecting wetlands and farmland areas and adopting transboundary conservation approaches are imperative for the long‐term conservation of the Sarus crane and its habitat.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population and conservation threats to the vulnerable Sarus crane Grus antigone in Nepal

Sharma,

Katuwal,

Regmi

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

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Island restoration to rebuild seabird populations and amplify coral reef functioning

Dunn,

Benkwitt,

Maury

et al. 2024

Conservation Biology

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Mobile organisms like seabirds can provide important nutrient flows between ecosystems, but this connectivity has been interrupted by the degradation of island ecosystems. Island restoration (via invasive species eradications and the restoration of native vegetation) can reestablish seabird populations and their nutrient transfers between their foraging areas, breeding colonies, and adjacent nearshore habitats. Its diverse benefits are making island restoration increasingly common and scalable to larger islands and whole archipelagos. We identified the factors that influence breeding seabird abundances throughout the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean and conducted predictive modeling to estimate the abundances of seabirds that the archipelago could support under invasive predator eradication and native vegetation restoration scenarios. We explored whether the prey base exists to support restored seabird populations across the archipelago, calculated the nitrogen that restored populations of seabirds might produce via their guano, and modeled the cascading conservation gains that island restoration could provide. Restoration was predicted to increase breeding pairs of seabirds to over 280,000, and prey was predicted to be ample to support the revived seabird populations. Restored nutrient fluxes were predicted to result in increases in coral growth rates, reef fish biomasses, and parrotfish grazing and bioerosion rates. Given these potential cross‐ecosystem benefits, our results support island restoration as a conservation priority that could enhance resilience to climatic change effects, such as sea‐level rise and coral bleaching. We encourage the incorporation of our estimates of cross‐ecosystem benefits in prioritization exercises for island restoration.

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Invasive species threats to seabirds

Cited by 2 publications

References 159 publications

Population and conservation threats to the vulnerable Sarus crane Grus antigone in Nepal

Population and conservation threats to the vulnerable Sarus crane Grus antigone in Nepal

Island restoration to rebuild seabird populations and amplify coral reef functioning

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