An old male Wandering Albatross and its downy chick at Marion Island

Photograph by John Cooper

Richard Schodde (Australian National Wildlife Collection, CSIRO National Research Collections Australia, Canberra. Australia) and colleagues have published in the journal Zootaxa on the taxonomy of the Wandering Albatross Diomedea exulans.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“On-going conflict in use of the name Diomedea exulans Linnaeus, 1758 for different taxa of the great albatrosses (Wandering Albatross complex) is resolved by neotypification, fixing the name to the large subantarctic form formerly often known as D. chionoptera Salvin, 1896.  Application of all scientific names in the complex is reviewed, an annotated synonymy for the large subantarctic form is provided, available names for smaller, temperate-zone forms are listed, and unavailable and otherwise invalid names referable to the complex are identified.  Syntypes of D. chionoptera and D. spadicea J.F. Gmelin, 1789 are lectotypified as well, fixing their names as synonyms of D. exulans to prevent possible disturbance to in-use names for the smaller, temperate-zone forms.” 

Reference:

Schodde, R., Tennyson, A.J.D., Groth, J.G., Lai, J., Scofield, P. & Steinheimer, F.D. 2017.  Settling the name Diomedea exulans Linnaeus, 1758 for the Wandering Albatross by neotypification.  Zootaxa 4236, No 1.  doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4236.1.7.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 09 March 2017

ACAP Latest News has previously reported on an unsuccessful attempt in 2009 to eradicate introduced rats on the Hawaiian island of Lehua, home for small populations of ACAP-listed Black-footed Phoebastria nigripes and Laysan P. immutabilis Albatrosses as well as several other breeding seabird species (click here).

Lehua from the air

Black-footed Albatrosses on Lehua, photograph by Eric Vanderwerf

News is now out of plans to try once more to get rid of Lehua’s rats by applying poison bait (click here).

“The bait will be applied to Lehua Island by helicopter with supplemental hand applications. Two anticoagulant rodenticides are being considered, both of which are authorized or will be authorized and registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for such conservation applications. The rodenticides are Diphacinone and Brodifacoum. They are used commonly by the global conservation community to remove invasive rats and mice from islands. Locally, this includes the successful eradication of rats from Mokapu islet near Molokai. Once rats are confirmed to have been removed from the island, no additional rodenticide will be needed.”

A draft environmental assessment (DEA) is to be made available for review and public comment this month.

“The purpose of the project is to restore the Lehua Island ecosystem by creating a predator-free, fully-protected refuge for threatened and endangered Hawaiian species. The invasive rats have far reaching impacts on the island’s native birds, plants, and natural systems. Chiefly, they eat native seabird eggs, chicks, and adults. They also consume and destroy the island’s native plants and seeds.”

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 07 March 2017

Hélder Araújo (Departamento de Biologia, Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar, Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal) and colleagues have published in the journal Marine Biology on aerial censuses of the Critically Endangered and ACAP-listed Balearic Shearwaters Puffinus mauretanicus in Portuguese Continental Shelf Waters.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“The Balearic shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus is one of the most threatened seabirds in the world. To evaluate the abundance and distribution of Balearic Shearwaters in Portuguese Continental Shelf Waters, during the post-breeding period when migrating birds are outside the Mediterranean Sea, we conducted 5 aerial surveys between 2010 and 2014 (21 survey days covering 62,716 km2). Following a line transect method, observers recorded a total of 181 Balearic Shearwaters sightings. Using Distance sampling software, we estimated an overall species abundance (2010–2014) of 10,182, ranging between 2338 in 2010 and 23,221 individuals in 2012. During the 2012 post-breeding period, the Portuguese Continental Shelf Waters were used by up to 96.8% of the latest migratory population assessment. Considering Balearic Shearwater estimates per sampling block, there was a preference for the North and Center sectors of the Portuguese coast (respectively, 7058 and 1366 individuals) where several SPAs were already designated. We computed the annual and overall habitat predictive models for Balearic Shearwaters using a maximum entropy algorithm on MaxEnt software. In all models, the Balearic shearwater distribution was best predicted by mean chlorophyll concentration. Balearic Shearwaters are mostly present in shallow shelf and coastal waters particularly in the widest portions of the continental shelf. These areas are strongly influenced by upwelling, which concurs with the chlorophyll concentration being the most important predicting variable. Portuguese Continental Shelf Waters are one of the most important post-breeding grounds to the Balearic Shearwater.”

Balearic Shearwater at sea, photograph by Pep Arcos

Reference:

Araújo, H., Bastos-Santos, J., Rodrigues, P.C., Ferreira, M., Pereira, A., Henriques, A.C., Monteiro, S.S., Eira, C. & Vingada, J. 2017.  The importance of Portuguese Continental Shelf Waters to Balearic Shearwaters revealed by aerial census.  Marine Biology 164: 55. doi:10.1007/s00227-017-3089-x.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 07 March 2017 

ACAP’s three official working languages are English, French and Spanish. Following an internship programme implemented in previous years (click here), the ACAP Secretariat hosted postgraduate translation students in Hobart between 13 and 17 February 2017.

From the right: Juliana, Carolina and Delphine, with ACAP's Executive Secretary, Marco Favero

The students had the opportunity to gain practical experience with ACAP to fine-tune their translation skills. At the same time, it was a great opportunity for ACAP to contribute to the education of translators, and in the process help to prepare them for a career as translators.

This year’s interns came from the School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics, Monash University, Melbourne (Delphine Marie) and the School of Humanities and Languages, University of New South Wales, Sydney (Carolina Genson and Juliana Castaneda).

We hope they had a great experience and enjoyed their stay in Tassie. We certainly enjoyed their visit and appreciated their work!

Marco Favero, ACAP Executive Secretary, 06 March 2017