Rum National Nature Reserve in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland is internationally important for its breeding Manx Shearwaters Puffinus puffinus, supporting over 60 000 pairs, representing approximately 23% of the global population (click here).

An ongoing PhD project aims to investigate the behaviour, biology, and ecology of invasive rats on Rum, in the context of their potential impacts on the island's globally significant Manx Shearwater breeding populations (click here). Scottish Natural Heritage is now considering whether to eradicate the Isle of Rum’s Norway or Brown Rats Rattus norvegicus to protect its shearwaters (click here).

During 2005/06 Norway Rats were eradicated from the nearby island of Canna by ground baiting following concern that the Manx Shearwater numbers on the island were extremely low, due partly to rat predation (click here).

Manx Shearwater chick in its burrow, photograph by Jaclyn Pearson 

Reference:

Lambert, M., Carlisle, S. & Cain I. 2015.  The role of brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) predation in determining breeding success of Manx shearwaters (Puffinus puffinus) on Rum. Scottish Natural Heritage Commissioned Report No. 697.  21 pp.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 03 June 2015

Akiko Shoji (Department of Zoology, Oxford University, UK) and colleagues have published early on-line in the Journal of Experimental Biology on foraging patterns of breeding Manx Shearwaters Puffinus puffinus.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“The optimal allocation of time and energy between one own’s survival and offspring survival is critical for iteroparous animals but creates a conflict between what maximises the parent's fitness and what maximises the offspring's.  For central-place foragers, provisioning strategies may reflect this allocation, while the distance between central-places and foraging areas may influence the decision.  Nevertheless, few studies have explored the link between life history and foraging in the context of resource allocation.  Studying foraging behaviour alongside food load rates to chicks provides a useful system for understanding the foraging decisions made during parent offspring conflict.  Using simultaneously deployed GPS and time-depth recorders, we examined the provisioning strategies in free-living Manx shearwaters Puffinus puffinus, which were caring for young.  Our results showed a bimodal pattern where birds alternate short and long trips.  Short trips were associated with higher feeding frequency and larger meals than long trips, suggesting that long trips were performed for self-feeding.  Furthermore, most foraging was carried out within 100 km of sea fronts.  Critically, these empirical findings are supported by a simple model based on patch quality and travel time showing that a bimodal foraging trip duration optimises feeding rates.”

Manx Shearwater, photograph by Nathan Fletcher

Reference:

Shoji, A., Aris-Brosou, S., Fayet, A., Padget, O., Perrins, C. & Guilford, T. 2015.  Dual foraging and pair-coordination during chick provisioning by Manx shearwaters: empirical evidence supported by a simple model.  Journal of Experimental Biology doi:10.1242/jeb.120626.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 02 June 2015

Jun Wang (Department of Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA) and colleagues have written in the on-line, open-access journal PLoS ONE on PCBs in Black-footed Albatrosses Phoebastria nigripes.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are ubiquitous in the environment.  Midway Atoll, located in the North Pacific Ocean, was occupied by the military during and after World War II.  However, Midway Atoll has become a national wildlife refuge and home to many different seabirds today, including the black-footed albatross (Diomedea nigripes) (BFAL).  The profiles and toxic equivalents (TEQ) of PCB congeners in the plasma and preen oil of BFAL chicks and adults were determined in this study.  The concentrations of the total PCBs in the plasma samples of chicks and adults collected in Midway Atoll ranged from 2.3 to 223.8 (mean 80.1) and 22.8 to 504.5 (mean 158.6) ng g^-1 (wet weight, ww), respectively.  The TEQs ranged from 0.2 to 0.6 (mean 0.4) and 0.4 to 1.6 (mean 0.9) pg g^-1 ww, respectively, in the plasma samples of chicks and adults from Midway Atoll.  The major congeners in the plasma samples of chicks and adults included PCBs 31, 87, 97, 99, 118, 138, 153, and 180, accounting for 70% of the total PCBs.  The concentrations of the total PCBs in the adult preen oil samples ranged from 1693 to 39404 (mean 10122) ng g^-1 (ww), of which 97% were PCBs 105, 118, 128, 138, 153, 161, 172, and 183.”

Black-footed Albatross, photograph by Cynthia Vanderlip

Reference:

Wang, J., Caccamise, S.A.L., Woodward, L.A. & Li, Q.X. 2015.  Polychlorinated Biphenyls in the plasma and preen oil of Black-Footed Albatross (Diomedea nigripes) chicks and adults on Midway Atoll, North Pacific Ocean.  PLoS ONE 10(4): e0123041 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0123041.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 01 June 2015

A Senior Research Assistant and two Research Assistants are required for island restoration work on Gough Island, Tristan da Cunha, South Atlantic Ocean, a World Heritage Site.  Field work will include demographic monitoring of the Critically Endangered and near-endemic Tristan Albatross Diomedea dabbenena, as well as of four other species of ACAP-listed albatrosses and petrels.  Details of the three posts follow.

Female Tristan Albatross incubating on Gough Island, photograph by John Cooper

A long-running research and conservation management project requires three people to work on Gough Island for 13 months, with an additional month for training in Cape Town, South Africa prior to departure.  These contract positions are designed primarily to conduct annual monitoring of breeding seabirds (two positions), and control an invasive plant, the Procumbent Pearlwort Sagina procumbens (one position; one of the other Research Assistants will also be trained in Sagina work, including rope access).

The seabird monitoring positions are responsible for annual monitoring of breeding success, survival, population counts, and other field work for 14 breeding species throughout the entire year.  The Sagina position is responsible for control and eradication work on Sagina from the steep cliffs adjacent to the weather station on Gough Island.  If required, training in rope-access techniques (IRATA Level 1 or equivalent) will be provided prior to departure to Gough Island for two team members.

The candidates will be joining and living with the South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP) overwintering team of six people in a weather station, and will also be required to work within the requirements of SANAP’s overwintering team.  It will be an asset if the post holders have prior experience of working with one or more other team members.

Requirements – Monitoring (2 positions)

The successful applicants should have experience in:

• Bird banding, safe handling of birds
• Conducting surveys and censuses of breeding seabirds
• Managing large amounts of data
• Undertaking fieldwork in a mountainous environment and inclement weather conditions
• Additional skills that would benefit a candidate include
• Banding/ringing permit
• Blood sampling, attaching biologging devices

Post-graduate research degree.

Requirements – Sagina (1 position)

The successful applicant should have experience in:

• Abseil rope-access techniques, and/or rock climbing experience
• Undertaking fieldwork in a mountainous environment and inclement weather conditions
• Working on remote islands (or equivalent remote locations).

Additional skills that would benefit a candidate include alien plant eradication techniques.

Requirements – all positions

Applicants must demonstrate:

• An ability to live and work in a very small team on one of the world’s most remote islands for a prolonged period
• High levels of physical fitness, adaptability and a strong work ethic
• Aptitude and/or proven experience in successfully undertaking unsupervised fieldwork, with safety as a first priority.

The successful applicants will have skills/qualifications:

• A degree or equivalent qualification or experience in a science/conservation discipline, ideally with some work experience in conservation/wildlife-related fieldwork and research
• Details of the jobs:
• Conduct fieldwork according to a work-plan devised by the project managers
• Assist biological research, Sagina control, fieldwork and monitoring as required
• Make day-to-day decisions about work priorities and fieldwork protocols
• Maintain accurate records of the work and computer databases of the work
• Regularly report to and update the project managers on progress (Senior Research Assistant only)
• Be responsible for data quality and reporting, and on-site training as needed (Senior Research Assistant only).

Salaries: UK£ 10 600 (Research Assistant), UK£ 14 500 (Senior Research Assistant) for 15 months, plus transport, food, and accommodation.

Period: 25 July 2015 – 25 October 2016.

How to apply:

Send a cover letter outlining your experience and qualifications, CV and contact information (including telephone numbers) for three references as a single PDF document to Dr. Alex Bond (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) by midnight GMT on 17 June 2015.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 31 May 2015