BirdLife Malta is looking for one full-time Seabird Conservation Warden to join its international team in the LIFE Arcipelagu Garnija Project to carry out a range of duties related with seabird conservation in Malta. This will include: rodent control, monitoring of colonies, public awareness activities on colony sites, compilation of data, mapping, and reporting.

The Project Warden will be based in BirdLife Malta's offices and work in relevant Natura 2000 sites.

BirdLife Malta’s LIFE Project Arċipelagu Garnija aims at securing the Maltese Islands for the globally Vulnerable Yelkouan Shearwater Puffinus yelkouan, of where approximately 10% of the species’ global population can be found. Protection of this local population is important on the global scale, especially with the drastic declines Yelkouan Shearwaters have been facing over the last decades.

Yelkouan Shearwater in Malta, photograph by Matthew Borg Cardona

The deadline for applications is on 5 December 2017.

Click here for a more detailed job description.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 13 November 2017

The 12th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (Convention on Migratory Species; COP 12), meeting last month in Manilla, the Philippines adopted Resolution UNEP/CMS/COP12/CRP25 on Bycatch. The adoption followed deliberations by the CMS Aquatic Working Group under the Chair of Barry Baker, the CMS-appointed Councillor for Bycatch, supported by Documents UNEP/cms/Doc.21.2.4/Rev. 1 and UNEP/CMS/COP12/Doc.24.4.4 (click here to access the documents).

The new resolution is a consolidation of earlier resolutions on the subject adopted by the CMS, commencing in 1999 at its Sixth COP held in Cape Town, South Africa. It covers bycatch of seabirds, marine mammals, marine turtles and non-target fish species by trawls, purse seine nets, longlines, gillnets, driftnets and by other fishing methods.

The 2018 resolution largely covers matters already in the four earlier bycatch resolutions, which have now been repealed. However, an addition is text on animal welfare that recommends an evaluation of the welfare implications of bycatch of marine mammals, including investigation into the sub-lethal effects of bycatch-related injury and stress, and their conservation implications.

Setting longlines at night (along with other mitigation measures) reduces bycatch of ACAP-listed albatrosses and petrels

Barry Baker also represented ACAP at COP12, presenting a Statement on behalf of the Agreement, which referred to its activities and achievements of the last three years. He also drew attention to a newly perceived threat facing seabirds identified by ACAP: the intentional take of albatrosses by squid jiggers.

Read another news report on the new CMS bycatch resolution here.

With thanks to Barry Baker.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 10 November 2017

Julie McInnes (Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia) and colleagues have published in the journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution on DNA metabarcoding protocols to study diets via faeces, using the Shy Albatross Thalassarche cauta.

The paper’s summary follows:

“1. DNA metabarcoding of food in animal scats provides a non-invasive dietary analysis method for vertebrates. A variety of molecular approaches can be used to recover dietary DNA from scats; however, many of these also recover non-food DNA. Blocking primers can be used to inhibit amplification of some non-target DNA, but this may not always be feasible, especially when multiple distinct non-target groups are present.

2. We have developed scat collection protocols to optimise the detection of food DNA in vertebrate scat samples. Using shy albatross Thalassarche cauta as a case study, we investigated how DNA amplification success and the proportion of food DNA detected are influenced by both environmental and physiological parameters. We show that both the amount and type of non-target DNA vary with sample freshness, the collection substrate, fasting period and developmental stage of the consumer.

3. Fresh scat samples yielded the highest proportion of food sequences. Collecting scats from dirt substrates reduced the proportion of food DNA and increased the proportion of contaminating DNA. Food DNA detection rates changed throughout the albatross breeding season and related to the time since feeding and the developmental stage of the animal. Fasting albatross produced scats dominated by parasite amplicons in universal PCR analysis, with little food DNA recovered. Samples from very young animals also produced reduced food DNA proportions.

4. Based on our observations, we recommend the following procedures for field scat collections to ensure high quality samples for dietary DNA metabarcoding studies. Ideally, (i) collect fresh scats; (ii) from surfaces with minimal contamination (e.g. rock or ice); (iii) collect scats from animals with minimum time since feeding and avoid fasting animals; (iv) avoid young animals that are not feeding directly (e.g. not weaned or fledged) or target larger/older individuals. The optimised field sampling protocols that we describe will improve the quality of dietary data from vertebrates by focusing on samples most likely to contain food DNA. They will also help minimise contamination issues from non-target DNA and provide standardised field methods in this rapidly expanding area of research.”

Shy Albatrosses, photograph by Aleks Terauds

Click here to acess related papers on metabarcoding by Julia McInnes.

Reference:

McInnes, J.C., Alderman, R., Deagle, B., Lea, M.-A., Raymond, B. & Jarman, S.N. 2017. Optimised scat collection protocols for dietary DNA metabarcoding in vertebrates. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 8: 192-202.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 09 November 2017

Susan Waugh (Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand) and Kerry-Jayne Wilson have published open-access in the journal Marine Ornithology on the conservation status of the globally Vulnerable ACAP-listed Westland Petrel Procellaria westlandica, a New Zealand endemic, recommending it be uplisted to Endangered and that its ACAP threat assessment be revised.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Threat status assessments provide a benchmark for identifying priorities for conservation and related research for special-status species. We review data about an endemic New Zealand seabird, the Westland Petrel Procellaria westlandica, and provide information to assist future threat assessment reviews. A range of threats have potential or have already contributed to reductions in population growth at a level that may exceed 10% over 10 years (ranked 'High' or 'High potential' threats). The realised (observed) threats include landslips and extreme climate events that degrade nesting habitat; bycatch mortality in commercial, recreational, and high-seas fisheries; attraction of fledglings to lights; and the potential encroachment of pigs Sus scrofa and dogs Canis familiaris into breeding areas. Low-ranked threats (which may contribute <10% to population reduction over 10 years) include habitat degradation by browsing introduced mammals and land development; death of individuals by striking wires or buildings; disturbance at colonies; the petrels' consumption of fisheries waste and plastics; human harvest; and naturally occurring mortality such as predation by native species or entrapment in tree branches and vines. Population size estimation, demographic modelling, and trend information indicate that the population is small (~2800 breeding pairs), with very low productivity and therefore potential vulnerability to stochastic events. Recent surveys show that the area of breeding habitat occupied by the birds is only about 0.16 km2. Storm events in 2014 severely reduced habitat quality, destroyed large parts of some colonies, and increased the likelihood of further erosion and landslip for at least 75% of the global breeding population. Storm impacts at other colonies have not yet been assessed. In light of this information, we recommend immediate review of the threat status of the species and initiation of mitigation to reduce the severity of threats. The information available indicates that a relisting to IUCN Endangered status may be warranted, and that the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels threat assessments should be revised to include two high-level potential threats: pig predation and dog predation.”

A Westland Petrel at its breeding site, photograph by Susan Waugh

Reference:

Waugh, S.M. & Wilson, K.-J. 2017. Threats and threat status of the Westland Petrel Procellaria westlandica. Marine Ornithology 45: 195-203.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 08 November 2017