Carlos Silva has been awarded a Master’s degree for his study of control methods for alien plants on an islet in the Azores that block the entrances to burrows of Cory’s Shearwaters Calonectris borealis.

The English version of the thesis summary follows:

“The introduction of alien species on the islands is a threat to the breeding seabirds.  In some islands in the Azores, the alien flora reduces the potential area of breeding habitat for the Cory's Shearwater Calonetris [sic] diomedea Cory.  In order to understand the problem 10 invasive aliens species was mapped with photo-interpretation techniques.  The non-native, invasive giant reed Arundo donax is the most representative species and covers 28% of Vila Franca do Campo Islet (Azores).  It blocks the entrance of Cory’s shearwater nest burrows and out-competes threatened the Azorean endemic flora.  Three A. donax control methods were tested in 90 square meter plots, and a cost-effectiveness was determined using a Simple Additive Weighting Model.  The most effective control method was cutting and removal of giant reed stems followed by two glyphosate-based foliar herbicide applications (one in May and another in late October i.e. corresponding to before and after the Cory’s shearwater breeding cycle).  After one year, 92% of giant reed was controlled at an estimated cost of 0,66€ per square meter.  This most cost-effective method was applied to 1,35 hectares of the islet.  One year after the A. donax control the colonization of the vegetation on the study site was studied and monitored.  A set of 19 square meter plots was deployed randomly and they were monitored three times from October 2010 to June 2011 (Autumn, Winter and Spring).  It was recorded the vegetation cover rate and the maximum height of each species.  Across the monitored season, 27 species have been identified (6 natives, 4 non-native invasives and 17 non-native).  The non-native plants are the most representative group of plants with highest average of cover rate (0.4094 m²) and number of species.  The native plants are the group less representative and have the lowest vegetation cover.  The non-native invasive plants are the second most representative group of plants with a average of cover area of 0.1498 m² and, at the same time, have the highest records of maximum height (40.75 cm).  Comparing all invasive species, statistical differences on vegetation cover and maximum height between the giant reed and the other invasive species were found.  Throughout the monitored season positive and negative trends on the vegetation cover were detected (positive trends for non native and negative trends for non-native invasive).  However these trends were not found to be statistically different.  The data collected helps to define strategies and a set of actions required to achieve the goals of the restoration.  The giant reed is still the target species, but these goals should be swift in order to prevent the spread of other extremely invasive species.  It is recommended that chemical and manual control for these plants is used.”

Cory's Shearwater, photograph by Paulo Catry

Reference:

Silva, C.M.N. 2014.  Restauração ecológica do ilhéu de Vila Franca do Campo, Açores: a recuperação do habitat para as aves marinhas.  Master of Technology and Sustainability of Forest Systems, School of Agriculture, Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 29 August 2014

Alex Bond (RSPB Centre for Conservation Science, The Lodge, Sandy, UK) and colleagues write in the Marine Pollution Bulletin on plastic debris ingested by Sooty Puffinus griseus and Great P. gravis shearwaters (southern hemisphere breeders) and Northern Fulmars Fulmarus glacialis found dead in Nova Scotia, Canada

The paper’s abstract follows:

"Plastic pollution is widespread in the marine environment, and plastic ingestion by seabirds is now widely reported for dozens of species.  Beached Northern Fulmars, Great Shearwaters, Sooty Shearwaters and Cory’s Shearwaters are found on Sable Island, Nova Scotia, Canada regularly, and they can be used to assess plastic pollution.  All species except Cory’s Shearwaters contained plastic debris in their gastrointestinal tracts.  Northern Fulmars, Sooty Shearwaters and Great Shearwaters all showed high prevalence of plastic ingestion (>72%), with Northern Fulmars having the highest number and mass of plastics among the species examined.  There was no difference in plastic ingestion between sexes or age classes.  In all species user plastics made up the majority of the pieces found, with industrial pellets representing only a small proportion in the samples.  Sable Island could be an important monitoring site for plastic pollution in Atlantic Canada.”

A beached Great Shearwater, photograph courtesy of the authors 

Click here for a related paper.

Reference:

Bond, A.L., Provencher, J.F., Daoust, P.-Y. & Lucas, Z.N. 2014.  Plastic ingestion by fulmars and shearwaters at Sable Island, Nova Scotia, Canada.  Marine Pollution Bulletin  DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.08.010.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 28 August 2014

A web cam has been following the fortunes of a Laysan Albatross Phoebastria immutabilis chick from hatching to fledging (with a geolocator mounted) on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.

Around 40 pairs of Laysan Albatrosses breed in residential gardens and on golf courses in the Princeville community on Kauai’s north shore (click here), one which has been watched by a Cornell Lab of Ornithology-hosted web cam.

Laysan Albatrosses in Princeville, Kauai, photograph by Bob Waid

Highlights of Kaloakulua’s life in the nest are now available for the 2014 season (click here).  See Mum K312 and Dad Kaluakane crash land, watch what happens when George the Rooster approaches, and see neighbour chick Mango visit for a chat!

Explore more on the Kauai Albatross Network and view earlier video clips of Kaloakulua growing up.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 27 August 2014

Around 850 pairs of ACAP-listed and Vulnerable Wandering Albatross Diomedea exulans currently breed annually at Bird Island, South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur)*.  Andy Wood of the British Antarctic Survey reports to ACAP Latest News of the recent harrowing experience of Jess Walkup, who is continuing the long-term monitoring of Wanderers on the island:

“During the monthly census in August, one wandering albatross chick was observed several metres from its nest, looking weak and uncharacteristically ruffled.  Closer inspection revealed that it had more than two metres of monofilament fishing line emerging from its beak.

The line was wrapped tightly around the chick’s body and wings and had almost severed one leg.  It must have ingested the hook and line embedded in discarded bait obtained by its parent while scavenging behind a fishing vessel.  Indeed, a study published in 2010 suggested that 1300-2050 items of fishing gear are inadvertently consumed each year by wandering albatrosses at South Georgia.  The team cut the bird free from the line, but had to leave the hook embedded within the bird’s digestive system.  It was found dead a few days later.”

The hooked chick is examined, photograph by Cian Luck

The local South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur)* fishery is well managed and there is a ban on discarding hooks enforced by on-board observers.  During the breeding season, Wandering Albatrosses range thousands of kilometres from the colony, overlapping with fisheries managed by many different regulatory regimes.  The discarded fishing gear reported here is most likely to have come from a fishery that is much farther afield, where discarding of gear is not as well regulated.  This emphasises the international nature of the problems that fisheries pose for this and other threatened ACAP species.

Selected Literature:

Phillips, R.A., Ridley, C., Reid, K., Pugh, P.J.A., Tuck, G.N. & Harrison, N. 2010.  Ingestion of fishing gear and entanglements of seabirds: monitoring and implications for management.  Biological Conservation 143: 501–512.

Andy Wood, British Antarctic Survey, Madingley Road, Cambridge, UK, 26 August 2014

*A dispute exists between the Governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (Islas Georgias del Sur y Islas Sandwich del Sur) and the surrounding maritime areas.