Systematic planning can rapidly close the protection gap in Australian mammal havens

Ringma, Jeremy; Legge, Sarah; Radford, James Q.; Wintle, Brendan A.; Bentley, Joss; Burbidge, Andrew A.; Copley, Peter; Dexter, Nicholas; Dickman, Chris R.; Gillespie, Graeme R.; Hill, Brydie M.; Johnson, Christopher N.; Kanowski, John Joseph; Letnic, Mike; Manning, Adrian D.; Menkhorst, Peter; Mitchell, Nicola J.; Morris, Keith; Moseby, Katherine E.; Page, Monte M.; Palmer, Russell; Bode, M. F.

doi:10.1111/conl.12611

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(45 reference statements)

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“…Nonetheless, our analysis represents an initial first-step toward understanding existing conservation measures for Australian terrestrial squamates. Future studies could usefully examine the optimal placement of additional protected areas using the distribution data collated here, in a similar fashion to a recent analysis for threatened Australian mammals (Ringma et al, 2019).…”

Section: Threatened and Data Deficient Squamates Are Poorly Represented By The Protected Area Networkmentioning

confidence: 90%

Geographic and taxonomic patterns of extinction risk in Australian squamates

Tingley

Macdonald

Mitchell

et al. 2019

Biological Conservation

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Section: Threatened and Data Deficient Squamates Are Poorly Represented By The Protected Area Networkmentioning

confidence: 90%

Geographic and taxonomic patterns of extinction risk in Australian squamates

Tingley

Macdonald

Mitchell

et al. 2019

Biological Conservation

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“…To reduce the impacts of free-ranging cats, management strategies have been implemented mainly in Europe, the USA, and Oceania and include the use of poison bait, shooting, trapping, TNR (trap, neuter, and return), and fencing (Campbell et al 2011;Courchamp et al 2003;Foley et al 2005;Ringma et al 2019). In Japan, trapping and TNR are the main approaches used on islands, such as the Ogasawara Islands, Amami Islands, Okinawa Island, Iriomote Island, and Teuri Island, where endemic species are impacted by cats (Nagamine 2011;Kagoshima Environmental Studies Program 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of the population source of free-ranging cats threatening endemic species on Tokunoshima Island, Japan

2020

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Free-ranging cats Felis silvestris catus are harmful to endemic species, especially on islands. Effective management practices require an understanding of their habitat use and population source at the landscape level. We aimed to identify the source of the free-ranging cat population on Tokunoshima Island, Japan, which harbors a variety of endemic organisms as well as human settlements. Trapping data for the whole island were provided by local governments, and landscape factors (residential, agricultural, and woodlot areas and cattle barn density) affecting cat density were explored. An analysis of live-capture data indicated that the density (per 1 km2) of free-ranging cats was positively correlated with the densities of cattle barns and woodlot areas and negatively correlated with residential areas. An interview survey revealed that nearly half of the cattle barns feed free-ranging cats. The source habitat of free-ranging cats appears to be areas with a high density of cattle barns and a high percentage of woodlots in human-dominated landscapes. Feeding cats in cattle barns may strengthen the bottom-up process of population growth on the island. To reduce the impact of cats on endemic species on Tokunoshima Island, efforts to stop feeding cats in cattle barns are important. Reaching a consensus with stakeholders will require further studies of the ecological risks posed by free-ranging cats.

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“…This may be particularly pertinent to the Australian biodiversity crisis: the country has recorded half the world's mammal declines in the last 200 years (Woinarski et al ., 2015). At present, conservation initiatives to restore threatened mammal populations in Australia focus on predator‐free refuges established in remote areas or on offshore islands (Legge et al ., 2018; Ringma et al ., 2019). Similar translocations have been a priority in other countries, such as New Zealand (Burns, Innes & Day, 2012; Towns et al ., 2016), where many such projects are undertaken by community groups (Innes et al ., 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban restoration of common species: population genetics of reintroduced native bush rats Rattus fuscipes in Sydney, Australia

Wright

Anson

Leo

et al. 2022

Animal Conservation

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Common species play a disproportionate role in shaping ecosystem structure and function, but are currently under‐represented in conservation translocation initiatives. This represents a missed opportunity because common species are typically easier to source for restoration projects, and larger numbers of common species can feasibly be translocated without substantially impacting source populations. Reintroduction of common species is an important first step in the faunal restoration of severely impacted habitats, such as urban spaces. Common species typically retain higher genetic diversity than threatened species, but this also means that they may have more to lose via population bottlenecks that can occur from translocation. To inform efforts to translocate common species, we assessed genetic impacts of a reintroduction of the common native bush rat Rattus fuscipes to an urban reserve at North Head, Sydney (Australia). Using single‐nucleotide polymorphism diversity, we found that differentiation between source populations was low. Nevertheless, admixture during reintroduction and follow‐up translocations initially increased standardized observed heterozygosity of North Head‐born bush rats and population NE, with a subtle corresponding decrease in within‐population kinship. For 3 years following the last translocation, we detected a small decline in genetic diversity in the North Head population, although final statistics remained similar to the source populations. Our results indicate that no short‐term interventions are necessary to further promote bush rat genetic diversity at North Head, but that continued genetic monitoring will be important to determine whether a trend in declining diversity continues as the population stabilizes. We conclude that translocation of a large number of individuals from multiple sources presents a suitable option for restoring an extirpated small mammal population whilst minimizing genetic effects typically associated with such management actions. Common species present viable candidates for translocations aiming to return biodiversity to disturbed or fragmented urban ecosystems.

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Systematic planning can rapidly close the protection gap in Australian mammal havens

Cited by 12 publications

References 23 publications

Geographic and taxonomic patterns of extinction risk in Australian squamates

Geographic and taxonomic patterns of extinction risk in Australian squamates

Identification of the population source of free-ranging cats threatening endemic species on Tokunoshima Island, Japan

Urban restoration of common species: population genetics of reintroduced native bush rats Rattus fuscipes in Sydney, Australia

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