Madeleine Pott (Island Conservation, Santa Cruz, USA) and colleagues have published in the journal Biological Conservation on bait trials for rodent eradications on tropical islands.  One of the islands studied in the paper is Wake Atoll, a marginal breeding site for Laysan Albatrosses Phoebastria immutabilis (click here).

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Rodent eradications undertaken on tropical islands are more likely to fail than eradications undertaken at higher latitudes.  We report on 12 independent rodent eradication projects undertaken on tropical islands that utilized the results of an in situ bait availability study prior to eradication to inform, a priori, the bait application rate selected for the eradication.  These projects also monitored bait availability during the eradication.  The results from our analysis verified the utility of bait availability studies to future rodent eradication campaigns and confirmed the influence of two environmental factors that can affect bait availability over time: precipitation prior to the study and the abundance of land crabs at the study site.  Our findings should encourage eradication teams to conduct in-depth assessments of the targeted island prior to project implementation.  However, we acknowledge the limitations of such studies (two of the projects we reviewed failed and one removed only one of two rodent species present) and provide guidance on how to interpret the results from a bait availability study in planning an eradication.  Study design was inconsistent among the twelve cases we reviewed which limited our analysis.  We recommend a more standardized approach for measuring bait availability prior to eradication to provide more robust predictions of the rate at which bait availability will decrease during the eradication and to facilitate future comparisons among projects and islands.”

A breeding Laysan Albatross

With thanks to Mike Brooke for information.

Reference:

Pott, M., Wegmann, A.S., Griffiths, R., Samaniego-Herrera, A., Cuthbert, R.J., Brooke, M de L., Pitt, W.C., Berentsen, A.R., Holmes, N.D., Howald, G.R., Ramos-Rendón, K. & Russell, J.C. 2015.  Improving the odds: assessing bait availability before rodent eradications to aid in selecting bait application rates.  Biological Conservation 185: 27-35.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 13 May 2015

Delia Davies (Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DST/NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, South Africa) and colleagues have published in the on-line and open-access journal Avian Conservation and Ecology on attacks by introduced House Mice Mus musculus on Critically Endangered Tristan Albatross Diomedea dabbenena chicks on Gough Island.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“The critically endangered Tristan Albatross Diomedea dabbenena breeds almost exclusively on Gough Island, in the central South Atlantic, where breeding success is much lower than [of] other great albatrosses (Diomedea spp.) worldwide.  Most breeding failures occur during the chick-rearing stage, when other great albatrosses suffer few failures.  This unusual pattern of breeding failure is assumed to be largely due to predation by introduced house mice Mus musculus, but there have been few direct observations of mouse attacks.  We closely monitored the fates of 20 chicks in the Gonydale study colony (123 chicks in 2014) using motion-activated cameras to determine the causes of chick mortality.  Only 5 of 20 chicks survived to fledge, and of the 15 failures, 14 (93%) were due to mouse predation.  One mouse-wounded chick was killed by a Southern Giant Petrel Macronectes giganteus; the rest died outright from their wounds within 3.9 ± 1.2 days of the first attack.  Despite this high impact, most chicks were attacked by only 1-2 mice at once (maximum 9).  The remaining 103 chicks in the study colony were checked less frequently, but the timing of failures was broadly similar to the 20 closely monitored nests, and the presence of mouse wounds on other chicks strongly suggests that mice were responsible for most chick deaths.  Breeding success in the Gonydale study colony averages 28% from 2001 to 2014; far lower than the normal range of breeding success of Diomedea species occurring on islands free from introduced predators.  Island-wide breeding success fell below 10% for the first time in 2014, making it even more urgent to eradicate mice from Gough Island.”

Rob Ronconi holds a dying Tristan Albatross chick after a night of mouse attacks, photograph by Peter Ryan

With thanks to Ben Dilley for information.

Reference:

Davies, D., Dilley, B.J., Bond, A.L., Cuthbert, R.J. & Ryan, P.G. 2015. Trends and tactics of mouse predation on Tristan Albatross Diomedea dabbenena chicks at Gough Island, South Atlantic Ocean. Avian Conservation and Ecology 10(1): 5. http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ACE-00738-100105.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 12 May 2015

The Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) has announced two new funding opportunities.

“The first one is within the SOS – Save Our Species Rapid Action Grants that support projects aimed at addressing immediate threats that require targeted specific action.  No deadline is indicated for applying for this SOS grant.  Instructions for applicants can be found here.

The second funding opportunity is within the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund to support the protection of endangered species.  The deadline for applying for this grant is 30 June 2015.  Instructions for applicants can be found here.

These grants promote objectives that are consistent with those of the Convention and its specialized agreements and may thus provide a source of funding to assist the CMS Family with the implementation of conservation activities on the ground.

The Secretariat encourages Parties to the Convention and partner organizations to propose projects that contribute to the implementation of any plans, actions or initiatives developed under CMS and its instruments, and will strive to support these proposals with letters of endorsement.”

Tristan Albatross - a Critically Endangered migratory species, photograph by Martin Abreu

Anyone who is eligible and interested in submitting a project proposal to the SOS and/or the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund that supports CMS goals is asked to please contact Laura Cerasi, Associate Partnerships and Fundraising Officer, UNEP/CMS Secretariat at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

With thanks to Østein Størkersen for information.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 11 May 2015

Noting that all albatrosses and petrels listed by ACAP are migratory species, the following text is taken from the World Migratory Bird Day website for information purposes.

“In times of ever-increasing global demand for energy, developing new and expanding existing renewable energy technologies are key when striving towards a low carbon future. Yet energy cannot be truly sustainable and nature-friendly unless it fully takes biodiversity and, more specifically, migratory birds into consideration.  With the theme “Energy – make it bird-friendly!”, World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) 2015 aims to highlight the importance of deploying energy technologies in a way that prevents, minimizes and mitigates impacts on migratory birds and their habitats.

Every year, millions of migratory birds struggle with the massive expansion of various means of generating and distributing energy: collisions and electrocution due to power lines as well as barrier effects from energy infrastructure are causing mortality and displacement.  In addition, the birds suffer effects from habitat loss and degradation and other disturbances from the deployment of hydropower, bio-energy, ocean, solar, wind and geothermal energy technologies.  Sustainable renewable energy production is expected to have positive effects on migratory birds by mitigating climate change and its impacts.  However, if certain energy technologies are deployed without proper planning, design and risk assessment, they can pose a grave threat to migratory bird species.

When expanding energy production, transition to wildlife-friendly methods is a key step to protect life on the Earth.  The conservation of migratory birds needs to be considered in all phases of energy development at multiple levels - locally, nationally and internationally. Therefore, concerted conservation actions by governments, nature conservation organizations, scientists and the energy sector as well as the general public are necessary.  This way the benefits of sustainable energy can be realized without the risk of harming migratory birds and their habitat."

Laysan and Black-footed Albatrosses - migratory species of the North Pacific, photograph by Eric Vanderwerf

"Launched in 2006 World Migratory Bird Day is an awareness-raising campaign which is celebrated annually and aims to inspire the worldwide conservation of both migratory birds and their habitats.  This campaign is organized by two international wildlife treaties administered by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) - the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), and the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA).

You can learn more about World Migratory Bird Day, register your event and order posters, stickers and postcards on the WMBD website as well as share your activities with the growing community behind WMBD across the globe.”

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 10 May 2015