ACAP Latest News

Read about recent developments and findings in procellariiform science and conservation relevant to the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels in ACAP Latest News.

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A new predator-proof fence will protect Laysan Albatrosses in the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, Hawaii

Kilauea Laysan fence Louise Barnfield
Not proof to cats and rats: the existing Kilauea Point fence behind a Laysan Albatross chick close to fledging. The new gated fence will largely follow the line of the existing fence
Photograph by Louise Barnfield

The Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge has announced that work will soon begin on construction of a new 3.4 km-long predator exclusion fence around the refuge boundary, which will help protect the thousands of native birds nesting there from mammalian predators such as feral cats and pigs, domestic dogs, rodents and mongoose.  “Construction will begin in early 2022 and is expected to be complete by September 2023.  The fence will enclose 168 acres [68 ha] of the Refuge and all non-native mammalian predators (cats and rats) will be removed from within the fence boundary.  The fence [will be] tall enough to prevent animals from jumping over, has a curved hood to prevent them from climbing over, mesh that is small enough to prevent animals as small as mice from squeezing through, and a skirt that extends underground to prevent them from digging under it.  All materials will be marine grade stainless steel.”  The total cost of the new fence is given as USD 1.09 million and will be built by Pono Pacific LLC, with the Hawaii-based environmental NGO, Pacific Rim Conservation, acting as project manager.

Kilauea Point Laysan with egg 20 21 Jacqueline OliveraTo be protected: a Laysan Albatross stands over its egg at Kilauea Point; photograph by Jacqueline Olivera

The Kīlauea Point NWR supported a total of 115 pairs of Laysan Albatrosses Phoebastria immutabilis (Near Threatened) in the 2019/20 breeding season, with an overall breeding success of 37.9% (36 fledglings).  This low figure is attributed in part to incursions by feral cats and pigs, the latter causing breaches in the old fence (click here).  The 2020/21 season within the refuge was somewhat better, fledging 61 chicks from 129 nests (47.3%,).  So far this season (2021/22) 90 occupied nests have been counted within the refuge.

Pacific Rim Conservation writes on its Facebook page: “We are thrilled to be partnering with @ponopacific and Pacific Islands: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to be building a predator exclusion fence that protects the native ecosystems at the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge from invasive mammalian predators.  Kilauea Point is home to tens of thousands of native birds ranging from the endangered Nene Goose, `Ua`u (Hawaiian Petrel), and A`o (Newell's Shearwater) to the Moli (Laysan Albatross) and `Ua`u Kani (Wedge-tailed Shearwater), and all of whom are vulnerable to predation.  Once complete, this will be the largest full predator exclusion fence in the Hawaiian Islands.”

Existing predator-proof fences on Hawaiian islands that protect breeding seabirds, including Laysan Albatrosses, may be found on Oahu (Kaena Point Natural Area Reserve and the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge) and elsewhere within the Kilauea Point NWR at Nihoku.

News from Pacific Rim Conservation and Wild Times, newsletter of Friends of Kaua’i Wildlife Refuges for December 2021.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 31 December 2021

Wedge-tailed Shearwaters are doing well on Maui

Maui Nui Wedgie chick
A Wedge-tailed Shearwater chick at at Kama'ole III

The Wedge-tailed Shearwater or 'ua'u kani Ardenna pacifica colony at Kama'ole Beach Park III on the Hawaiian island of Maui has grown from 387 burrows in 2019 to 1069 burrows this season, an increase of 176%.  This increase has followed a predator control programme including against feral cats.  Habitat restoration efforts by the Maui Nui Seabird Recovery Project (MNSRP) have been directed at removing non-native vegetation that can shelter such predators (click here).

“The Maui Nui Seabird Recovery Project (MNSRP) began in March of 2006 when project staff documented the presence of a significant breeding colony of Endangered Hawaiian Petrels (HAPE) [Pterodroma sandwichensis] in the upper reaches of the Lāna‘i watershed. This colony is the second largest known breeding colony of HAPE in Hawaii.  Project staff began work to protect the seabirds by removing predators and habitat altering plants that were taking over the breeding colony.  On Maui and Moloka’i MNSRP continues to search for seabird colonies, provide protections where funding and staffing permit and to provide public education about the importance of seabirds in our natural environment.  The project collaborates with researchers, managers and regulators to focus efforts as well as possible to benefit our seabirds.”

Maui Nui Seabirds is a project of the Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit of the University of Hawaii at Manoa in association with the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resourcess, Division of Forestry and Wildlife and the NGO Pacific Rim Conservation.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 30 December 2021

Ecological impact of breeding Westland Petrels on terrestrial ecosystems

Westland petrel with egg on nest Reuben Lane
A burrow-nesting Westland Petrel beside its egg; photograph by Reuben Lane

David Hawke (Ara Institute of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand) has published an article in the New Zealand of Ecology that reviews how breeding Westland Petrels Procellaria westlandica affect biogeochemical processes at their breeding sites.

The paper’s abstract follows:

The Westland petrel (Procellaria westlandica) is a 1200 g medium-sized seabird whose breeding colonies are dispersed across 700 ha of forest on the western coast of South Island, New Zealand. These birds represent the sole landscape-scale lowland remnant of formerly widespread petrel and shearwater colonies in mainland New Zealand and provide an opportunity to investigate maritime species’ impact on terrestrial ecosystems characteristic of pre-human New Zealand. This review develops a conceptual model of biogeochemical processes influenced by Westland petrels from a single burrow to individual colonies and thence to a catchment scale. Results show the distinctiveness of the Westland petrel system, with colonies moving around the landscape in response to local damage by earthquakes and storms. Based on monitored streams in forested landscapes elsewhere, storms also control N and P fluxes to streams. Non-seabird temperate forests are dominated by mycorrhizal plant-soil interactions, but the high N and P status of Westland petrel colony soils minimises the role of fungi in soil processes, including trace element (Se) uptake. The more N-rich C:N ratio in tree foliage within habitat occupied by the colony may provide nutritional support for terrestrial herbivorous animals, including those whose ranges extend beyond the colony. Overall, the review emphasises the spatial and temporal dynamics of the Westland petrel terrestrial ecosystem, and highlights potential ecological linkages that connect colonies to the wider landscape.

Reference:

Hawke, D. 2022.  The biogeochemistry and ecological impact of Westland petrels (Procellaria westlandica) on terrestrial ecosystems.  New Zealand Journal of Ecology 46(1): 3455.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 29 December 2021

 

A southerly foraging area for Hutton’s Shearwaters deduced from stable isotopes

 Huttons Shearwater flock Lorna Deppe
Hutton's Shearwaters at sea; photograph by Lorna Deppe

Della Bennet (School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand) and colleagues have published in the New Zealand of Ecology on at-sea foraging behaviour of the Endangered Hutton’s Shearwater Puffinus huttoni.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Stable isotope analysis of feathers can provide an indirect method to investigate the diet and foraging locations of birds during the time the feathers were growing. We used the isotopic composition of experimentally-induced feathers to investigate the foraging locations of the Hutton’s shearwater (Puffinus huttoni), an endangered seabird that is a breeding endemic to the Kaikōura region of New Zealand. The isotopic composition of feathers was first compared with potential prey items collected from the near-shore marine environment near the breeding colony. By applying trophic fractionation factors (2–4 ‰ increase in δ15N for every 1 ‰ increase in δ13C) and comparing the isotopic composition of the induced tail feathers and sampled prey items, we found that feather isotopic compositions were not consistent with a diet based on feeding locally. Both the δ13C and δ15N from zooplankton and fish collected within 8 km of Kaikōura were significantly different than the isotopic composition of induced feathers and were outside of the range expected for consumed local prey items. Instead, we found the isotopic composition of Hutton’s shearwater feathers was more consistent with feeding on potential prey items in the seas north-east and around Banks Peninsula, an area c. 100 km south of the breeding colony and where they had been tracked previously. Stable isotope analysis can provide insight into the foraging behaviour of birds at sea and demonstrates the importance of isotopic research in pinpointing foraging locations in seabirds with large geographic ranges.”

Reference:

Bennet, D.G., Horton, T.W., Goldstien, S.J., Rowe, L. & Briskie, J.V. 2022.  At-sea foraging behaviour in Hutton’s shearwater (Puffinus huttoni) as revealed by stable isotope analysis.  New Zealand Journal of Ecology 46(1): 3462.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 28 December 2022

Seasonal greetings and best wishes for 2022 from the ACAP Secretariat

 Seasonal Greetings 2022 E

ACAP-listed and Vulnerable Spectacled Petrel Procellaria conspicillata; photograph by Peter Ryan

The ACAP Secretariat extends season’s greetings and its best wishes for an albatross- and petrel-friendly and a safe 2022 to all the readers of ACAP Latest News and to the over 5800 followers of the Agreement's Facebook page.

 Seasonal Greetings 2022 F

Seasonal Greetings 2022 S

The Seventh Session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Agreement (MoP7), is planned to be held in Hobart, Australia from 9-13 May 2022, unless COVID-19 restrictions preclude a meeting in person, in which case MoP7 will be held virtually

In 2022 ACAP will continue to support World Albatross Day on 19 June for the third year with its chosen theme of Climate Change, producing new artworks, infographics and posters to celebrate the day.

Christine Bogle, John Cooper and Wiesława Misiak, ACAP Secretariat, 27 December 2021

The Agreement on the
Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels

ACAP is a multilateral agreement which seeks to conserve listed albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters by coordinating international activity to mitigate known threats to their populations.

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