Testing restocking methods for an endangered species: Effects of predator exclusion and vegetation cover on common hamster (Cricetus cricetus) survival and reproduction

Villemey, Anne; Besnard, Aurélien; Grandadam, Jimmy; Eidenschenck, Julien

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2012.08.007

Cited by 39 publications

(38 citation statements)

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“…Since European hamsters prefer agricultural areas as habitat, farmers are compensated by 450 to 2250€ per year and hectare (Laussmann & Fabry 2008, Amand et al 2012, MKULN V 2013 for so-called hamster-friendly field management. This type of management aims to reduce mortality (Villemey et al 2013) presumably caused by industrialized agriculture and includes small-scale cultures, restricted ploughing and late or no harvest to provide year-long food and cover for hamsters (Kayser & Stubbe 2002, Köhler et al 2014, La Haye et al 2014. The French national action plan for the European hamster for 2012 to 2016 provided 4 400 000€ just for this purpose (Amand et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dramatic global decrease in the range and reproduction rate of the European hamster Cricetus cricetus

Surov¹,

Banaszek²,

Bogomolov³

et al. 2016

Endang. Species. Res.

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Although the European hamster is probably the fastest-declining Eurasian mammal, its IUCN RedList status is still Least Concern. In addition to the huge distribution area, this categorization is based on the assumptions (1) that the decline affects only Western Europe, where (2) modern agriculture has led to (3) an increase in the mortality of the species. Since mortality-reducing protection measures in Western Europe have been unable to stop the decline, we reviewed the literature from 1765 to the present and reappraised the situation. We found support for none of these assumptions. The species has also vanished from more than 75% of its range in Central and Eastern Europe. In 48 of 85 Russian, Belarussian, Ukrainian and Moldovan provinces, its relative occurrence has decreased. It is now rare in 42 provinces and extinct in 8. Mortality has not increased, but the reproduction rate has shrunk since 1954 throughout the distribution area. Today the reproduction rate is only 23% of that between 1914 and 1935. Taking into account the mortality of this prey species, 1 female today raises only 0.5 females for next year's reproduction. The extrapolation of the literature data points to an extinction of the species between 2020 and 2038. We strongly recommend (1) changing the status of the European hamster on the IUCN Red List from Least Concern at least to Vulnerable or even Endangered and (2) supporting scientific research on the reproduction of European hamsters as a protection measure. Global threats such as climate change, light pollution or (in the past) fur trapping are more likely to be the ultimate reason for the decline of this species than modern agriculture.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dramatic global decrease in the range and reproduction rate of the European hamster Cricetus cricetus

Surov¹,

Banaszek²,

Bogomolov³

et al. 2016

Endang. Species. Res.

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“…A good strategy to optimize genetic diversity in reintroduced populations is releasing individuals from different source populations or breeding lines at the same time, because all reintroduced individuals have to adapt to the new area or wild environment (Villemey et al 2013). In a later phase of a reintroduction some individuals or their offspring may have established a territory, which makes it much harder to integrate into the population (Koelewijn et al 2010;Frosch et al 2014).…”

Section: Success Of Supplementation On Genetic Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reintroductions of Common hamsters are often accompanied by high initial mortalities ; Villemey et al 2013), which may reduce the already impoverished genetic diversity of the hamsters used in reintroductions and supplementations in the Netherlands and Belgium (Robert 2009;Kuiters et al 2010;La Haye et al 2012a). The decline in genetic diversity in populations R1-R3 as observed in this study is an important warning, as the reintroductions in these areas were performed by releasing individuals from the NL breeding line only, having already a lower genetic diversity compared with other breeding lines.…”

Section: Effects Of Reintroduction On Genetic Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, captive breeding and reintroduction have severe disadvantages. Reintroductions can be difficult and expensive (Tenhumberg et al 2004), and the release of captive-bred individuals is often accompanied by high initial losses of released individuals (Villemey et al 2013;McCleery et al 2014). Moreover, captive breeding is mostly started in species with already highly threatened populations with low numbers (Frankham et al 2002;Allendorf et al 2013), which may result in ex-situ populations with small genetic variation.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Genetic monitoring to evaluate reintroduction attempts of a highly endangered rodent

Haye

Reiners

Raedts³

et al. 2017

Conserv Genet

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a systematic reintroduction scheme including consecutive supplementations made it possible to infer success of reintroduction, supplementation and following admixture of populations. An initial loss of genetic diversity could be detected in some of the reintroduced populations, but it could be shown that due to following supplementation of populations, genetic diversity and also effective population size in the wild stabilized or even increased. Multivariate (DAPC) and Bayesian inference (STRUCTURE) revealed admixture of supplemented individuals with wild-born individuals. Although population size estimates differed strongly between populations, a link between census size, breeding lines, effective population size and genetic diversity could not be proven. This study highlights that genetic monitoring is not only descriptive but also reveals detailed information on reintroduction success, admixture and population development. We recommend that genetic monitoring should be a basic element of reintroductions and should be used to optimize reintroduction attempts.Keywords Captive breeding · Common hamster · Founder effect · Admixture · Genetic variation · Effective and census population size IntroductionThe current global biodiversity crisis affects many groups of species, including a wide range of mammalian species (Di Marco et al. 2014). A global conservation strategy for mammalian species is therefore urgently needed (Rondinini et al. 2011), but the success of conservation strategies is uncertain as many factors influence the result of conservation projects (Crees et al. 2016). The ultimate strategy to prevent extinction or to increase population Abstract The ultimate strategy to prevent species extinction is captive breeding followed by reintroduction of individuals into the wild. Unfortunately, overall success of reintroductions is poor and in most cases conservation breeding is applied for species where individual numbers, population numbers and genetic diversity is strongly reduced. In addition, reintroductions inevitably result in small populations with poor genetic status. Systematic demographic and genetic monitoring is needed to optimize conservation actions. Here we show how genetic monitoring was useful and informative in a reintroduction project for the highly endangered Common hamster (Cricetus cricetus) in the Netherlands and Belgium. Using well defined breeding lines of original relict populations combined with M. J. J. La Haye and T. E. Reiners have contributed equally to this work. numbers of mammalian species is captive breeding followed by reintroduction of captive-bred individuals into the wild (IUCN 2013). However, captive breeding and reintroduction have severe disadvantages. Reintroductions can be difficult and expensive (Tenhumberg et al. 2004), and the release of captive-bred individuals is often accompanied by high initial losses of released individuals (Villemey et al. 2013;McCleery et al. 2014). Moreover, captive breeding is mostly started in species with already highly threatened popu...

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“…Interestingly, the common hamster has shown some potential for recovery following intensive ex situ and in situ conservation actions undertaken recently (e.g., Weinhold 2004;La Haye et al 2010;Villerney et al 2013). These management actions involve techniques such as: protective legislation, habitat restoration, fencing, establishing of captive-breeding programs for supplementation of wild populations, translocation, and monitoring (e.g., Kayser and Stubbe 2002;Jordan 2002;Weinhold 2004Weinhold , 2008Geske 2008;Kupfernagel 2008;La Haye et al 2010;Villerney et al 2013;O`Brien 2015). For example, on the local scale, attempts have been made to restock a population via translocation, i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The genetic characterization of an isolated remnant population of an endangered rodent (Cricetus cricetus L.) using comparative data: implications for conservation

et al. 2017

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reflects its extreme isolation. This factor, coupled with inbreeding and genetic drift, are major threats to JW. A neighbor-joining tree based on mtDNA haplotypes shows that JW clusters among samples representing the Central subgroup that is known from central Germany but that has not yet been identified in Poland. Findings presented here improve our understanding of the spread and diversification of the common hamster. We offer the following hypotheses to explain the observed pattern of mtDNA haplotype distribution: JW could be a byproduct of postglacial migrations or back-migrations from eastern refugia to the western part of Europe, or/and be a result of population and habitat fragmentation. We recommend translocation of individuals as an effective management strategy, both at the level of Central phylogeographic group and at the species level, to overcome the negative consequences of inbreeding and geographical isolation of the JW population.

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Testing restocking methods for an endangered species: Effects of predator exclusion and vegetation cover on common hamster (Cricetus cricetus) survival and reproduction

Cited by 39 publications

References 28 publications

Dramatic global decrease in the range and reproduction rate of the European hamster Cricetus cricetus

Dramatic global decrease in the range and reproduction rate of the European hamster Cricetus cricetus

Genetic monitoring to evaluate reintroduction attempts of a highly endangered rodent

The genetic characterization of an isolated remnant population of an endangered rodent (Cricetus cricetus L.) using comparative data: implications for conservation

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