The effect of aerial application of 1080 cereal baits on radio-tagged South Island fernbirds (<i>Bowdleria punctata punctata</i>)

Klink, Paul van; Kemp, Joshua R.; O'Donnell, Cfj

doi:10.1080/03014223.2012.711334

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Changes to bait type, concentration, and pre-feeding practices are considered to have reduced the effects on non-target species. More recent studies have found that aerial 1080 operations have no direct impacts on a range of taxa, including bird populations (Greene et al 2013;Schadewinkel et al 2014), or that a small level of immediate mortality can be outweighed by subsequent increased survival and breeding success in the absence of predators (van Klink et al 2013;Elliott & Kemp 2016). However, much of the research on 1080 impacts has focused on birds of conservation concern including kākā (Nestor meridionalis; Moorhouse et al 2003;Powlesland et al 2003), kiwi (Apteryx spp.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of single aerial 1080 possum-control operations on common forest birds in the South Island, New Zealand

Vianen¹,

Burge²,

MacFarlane³

et al. 2018

NZ J Ecol

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Abstract:We used a long-term replicated before-after control-impact (BACI) sampling design to monitor the effect of aerial 1080 possum-control operations on common forest bird populations. Paired treatment and nontreatment sites in the Rolleston Range (East Coast, South Island) and Alexander Range (West Coast, South Island) were monitored once before 1080 treatment during winter 2012 and for three successive summers afterwards. Mammals (possums Trichosurus vulpecula, rats Rattus spp. and mice Mus musculus) were monitored with chew cards, and forest birds with five-minute counts. Possums decreased to negligible levels in treatment sites, but increased over time in non-treatment sites. Rats were only present at the West Coast sites, where there was a significant, but short-lived, decrease post-1080. Mouse abundance showed almost no effects post-1080, but increased at the East Coast sites after a beech (Nothofagus spp.) mast seeding event. No common native bird species showed short-term negative effects post-1080. Three species -tomtit (Petroica macrocephala), silvereye (Zosterops lateralis), grey warbler (Gerygone igata) -increased significantly. Longer-term effects on birds were nearly all neutral or positive, including bellbirds which increased three-fold in treatment areas. In nontreatment areas, higher possum densities were correlated with subsequent decreases in bird counts (averaged across all species). Overall, the one-off aerial 1080 treatment had conservation benefits.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of single aerial 1080 possum-control operations on common forest birds in the South Island, New Zealand

Vianen¹,

Burge²,

MacFarlane³

et al. 2018

NZ J Ecol

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“…Nontarget poisoning may occur as primary poisoning, where non-target species directly consume poisoned baits; or as secondary poisoning, where non-target species consume prey or carcasses that have fed on baits (Eason et al, 2013a;Lloyd & McQueen, 2000). However, the benefits gained by non-target species through reduced predation pressure and/or reduced competition after aerial 1080 operations are generally considered to outweigh any such losses (van Klink et al, 2013). It is important that the potential losses and benefits of non-target species in areas destined for 1080 treatment are well understood.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioacoustic monitoring of New Zealand avifauna before and after aerial 1080 operations

Bomans¹

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<p>Introduced mammalian predators, namely possums, stoats and rats, are the leading cause of decline in native avifauna in New Zealand. The control of these species is essential to the persistence of native birds. A major component of mammal control in New Zealand is carried out through the aerial distribution of the toxin sodium monofluoroacetate (otherwise known as 1080). The use of this toxin, however, is subject to significant public debate. Many opponents of its use claim that forests will ‘fall silent’ following aerial operations, and that this is evidence of negative impacts on native bird communities. With the continued and likely increased use of this poison, monitoring the outcomes of such pest control operations is necessary to both address these concerns and inform conservation practice. The recent growth in autonomous recording units (ARUs) provides novel opportunities to conduct monitoring using bioacoustics. This thesis used bioacoustic techniques to monitor native bird species over three independent aerial 1080 operations in the Aorangi and Rimutaka Ranges of New Zealand. In Chapter 2, diurnal bird species were monitored for 10-12 weeks over two independent operations in treatment and non-treatment areas. At the community level, relative to non-treatment areas, the amount of birdsong recorded did not decrease significantly in treatment areas across either of the operations monitored. At the species level, one species, the introduced chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs), showed a significant decline in the prevalence of its calls in the treatment areas relative to non-treatment areas. This was observed over one of the two operations monitored. Collectively, these results suggest that diurnal native avifaunal communities do not ‘fall silent’ following aerial 1080 operations. The quantity of data produced by ARUs can demand labour-intensive manual analysis. Extracting data from recordings using automated detectors is a potential solution to this issue. The creation of such detectors, however, can be subjective, iterative, and time-consuming. In Chapter 3, a process for developing a parsimonious, template-based detector in an efficient, objective manner was developed. Applied to the creation of a detector for morepork (Ninox novaeseelandiae) calls, the method was highly successful as a directed means to achieve parsimony. An initial pool of 187 potential templates was reduced to 42 candidate templates. These were further refined to a 10-template detector capable of making 98.89% of the detections possible with all 42 templates in approximately a quarter of the processing time for the dataset tested. The detector developed had a high precision (0.939) and moderate sensitivity (0.399) with novel recordings, developed for the minimisation of false-positive errors in unsupervised monitoring of broad-scale population trends. In Chapter 4, this detector was applied to the short-term 10-12 week monitoring of morepork in treatment and non-treatment areas around three independent aerial 1080 operations; and to longer-term four year monitoring in two study areas, one receiving no 1080 treatment, and one receiving two 1080 treatments throughout monitoring. Morepork showed no significant difference in trends of calling prevalence across the three independent operations monitored. Longer-term, a significant quadratic effect of time since 1080 treatment was found, with calling prevalences predicted to increase for 3.5 years following treatment. Collectively, these results suggest a positive effect of aerial 1080 treatment on morepork populations in the lower North Island, and build on the small amount of existing literature regarding the short- and long-term response of this species to aerial 1080 operations.</p>

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A review of biodiversity outcomes from possum-focused pest control in New Zealand

2016

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Worldwide, introduced vertebrate pests impact primary production, native biodiversity, and human health. In New Zealand, extensive pest control (~10 million ha) is undertaken to protect native biota and to prevent losses to the primary sector from wildlife vectors of bovine tuberculosis (TB), primarily possums (Trichosurus vulpecula). Control is conducted by TBfree New Zealand and by conservation agencies. Remote, forested terrain is treated using the toxin 1080 via aerial delivery in bait with a return time of ~5 years. Ground-based control is conducted annually using traps and/or poison bait. Possums are controlled to very low abundance by these operations. Aerial 1080 is effective against another forest-dwelling vertebrate pest, the ship rat (Rattus rattus). Possum control has reduced TB rates, but collateral benefits for native biodiversity have not been quantified, making it difficult to demonstrate a return on investment. We review information from 47 accounts of responses of native biota to possum control. Of these, 60% quantified responses to aerial 1080; the remainder were ground-based. Possum control benefited vegetation by increasing foliage and fruit production, and by reducing tree mortality. Controlling ship rats and possums together improved bird populations, but rats recovered rapidly and long-term outcomes for rat-vulnerable birds are unknown.Large-bodied invertebrates also benefited from extensive pest control. We conducted a meta-analysis of 84 response measures from 35 of these 47 studies in order to provide a quantitative assessment of these findings. The analysis demonstrated that both ground and aerial control of this invasive pest in New Zealand has provided substantial collateral benefits for native biota. Few studies have taken advantage of decades of extensive pest control in New Zealand to monitor ecosystem-level outcomes, which have received only short-term attention thus far. Non-treatment experimental controls and replicate sites that enable validated assessments of outcomes for native biota are vital. Future studies would benefit from a standardised set of biodiversity indicators from a range of taxonomic and functional groupings, and from standardising experimental designs so individual studies can contribute to future meta-analyses, to strengthen the evidence base for the impacts of invasive pests on native biota in New Zealand and worldwide.

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The effect of aerial application of 1080 cereal baits on radio-tagged South Island fernbirds (Bowdleria punctata punctata)

Cited by 6 publications

References 12 publications

The effects of single aerial 1080 possum-control operations on common forest birds in the South Island, New Zealand

The effects of single aerial 1080 possum-control operations on common forest birds in the South Island, New Zealand

Bioacoustic monitoring of New Zealand avifauna before and after aerial 1080 operations

A review of biodiversity outcomes from possum-focused pest control in New Zealand

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