Sarah Gutowsky (Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada) has submitted her thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy that looks at analysing at-sea movements of Black-footed Phoebastria nigripes and Laysan P. immutabilis Albatrosses.

The thesis abstract follows:

“Wide-ranging pelagic seabirds are among the most threatened and most mobile of all marine taxa.   Understanding their movement ecology is necessary to develop effective conservation solutions for declines, yet many drivers of their movements throughout the life cycle are poorly understood. Particularly, movements during two critical life stages are known in little detail for many species: the period of post-natal dispersal for fledglings and the non-breeding period for adults.  Biologging technologies provide means to study individual at-sea movements during all life stages.  However, advances in analytical approaches for examining biologger data have in some cases lagged behind that of the technologies themselves.  The objectives of my thesis are to address weaknesses in our understanding of seabird movement ecology and in the approaches used to describe seabird movement from biologger data, using two threatened seabirds, the Laysan Phoebastria immutabilis and black-footed P. nigripes albatrosses, as models.  In Chapter Two, I describe for the first time the movement and habitat of black-footed albatross fledglings, and compare with those of non-breeding adults.  In Chapter Three, I develop an approach to assess detailed activity budgets for non-breeding seabirds, and apply this method to explore drivers of non-breeding movements for both model species.  In Chapter Four, I evaluate the limitations of a common approach where period-specific space use for a group, such as a colony, is inferred from a sample of biologger-equipped individuals.  In Chapter Five, I build a conceptual framework of the drivers of movement with a focus on the albatross family (Diomedeidae), and apply this to identify trends and weaknesses in the literature on albatross movement.  My work demonstrates the value of taking a holistic view of seabird movement ecology; interpreting observed movement patterns requires considering multiple interacting factors that drive individuals to move, including intrinsic factors, such as age, breeding phase, and moult status, as well as how “decisions” are made of when and where to move, and what modes of movement are used.  Biologging tools afford insights into these drivers of movement, especially when the individual nature of biologger data is considered in analyses, with implications for ecological understanding and conservation.”

Black-footed Albatrosses dance with Laysan Albatrosses behind, photograph by Pete Leary

Reference:

Gutowsky, S.E. 2016.  Pelagic seabird movement ecology: assessing drivers of albatross (Diomedeidae) movement and the utility of biologging tools for wide-ranging and threatened seabirds.  PhD thesis.  Halifax: Dalhousie University.  171 pp.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 08 April 2016

Tony Martin’s new book (authored along with “Team Rat”) tells the stirring story of ridding South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur)* of introduced rodents by aerial bombardment of a thousand square kilometres with 12 500 bags of poison bait from three vintage helicopters.  It relates, in word and image, the baiting work that took place on the island in three phases (in 2011, 2013 and 2015) that has been regularly reported in in ACAP Latest News (click here).  The book has been produced to help raise funds for the final and crucial phase of the project that will conduct monitoring next year to confirm - or not - that the island’s Norway Rats Rattus norvegicus and House Mice Mus musculus are finally gone.

Snow- and ice-clad mountains rear behind a Wandering Albatross on Prion Island, photograph by Anton Wolfaardt

The three phases of the eradication, depicted in green (Phase One) and red (Phase Two top, Phase Three bottom)

The Author’s Preface says the book “is a story of highs and lows, excitement and frustration, fear and astonishment, and lots of plain hard graft.”  It also shows how such a big island, far larger than any previously treated, could be successfully baited in phases due to glaciers impenetrable to rats dividing the island into zones.  Retreating glaciers, presumed due to climate change, were putting rat-free areas at risk so it was essential the eradication was not delayed.

I much enjoyed reading Tony’s book – and admiring the stunning scenery it depicts.  The achievement it portrays should be a welcome boost to developing plans to eradicate rodents at other infested islands in the Southern Ocean, notable the United Kingdom’s Gough and South Africa’s Marion, both overrun with predatory House Mice that have taken to killing albatrosses and petrels.

Flying loaded bait pods ashore 

Flying a bait drop, photographs courtesy of Tony Martin

Anthony Martin is Director of the South Georgia Heritage Trust’s Habitat Restoration Project, as well as being Professor of Animal Conservation at the Centre for Remote Environments, University of Dundee in Scotland.  The South Georgia Heritage Trust seeks to undertake projects that will conserve and protect the island’s important natural habitat, such as restoring large areas of habitat that threatened species of birds are unable to use to breed because of the presence of rats introduced some 150 years ago.

Professor Martin has previously published a book on albatrosses; click here for its review in ACAP Latest News.  His latest book, reviewed here, comes with a Forward by HRH The Princess Royal, Patron of the SGHT, who has been a great supporter of the eradication project.

With thanks to Tony Martin.

Reference:

Martin, T. with photographs by members of Team Rat.  undated*.  Reclaiming South Georgia.  The Defeat of Furry Invaders on a Sub-Antarctic Island.  [Dundee]: South Georgia Heritage Trust.  144 pp.  ISBN 978-0-9564546-3-8.  Hardcover, profusely illustrated in colour.  UK£ 25.00.

*Published October 2015.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 07 April 2016

*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.

The Ninth Meeting of ACAP’s Advisory Committee, to be held in La Serena, Chile next month, will be preceded by the Seventh Meeting of the AC’s Seabird Bycatch Working Group from 2 to 4 May and the Third Meeting of the AC’s Population and Conservation Status Working Group on 5 and 6 May.

Documents and Information Papers for these two working groups are now available on this website (click here).  Note that some are password protected, with only summaries publically available.

White-phase Southern Giant Petrel scavenging on Bouvet Island, photograph by Greg Hofmeyr

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 06 April 2016

Holly Jones (Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, USA) and a suite of colleagues have reviewed the conservation benefits from invasive mammal eradications on islands in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

The paper’s abstract follows:

“More than US$21 billion is spent annually on biodiversity conservation.  Despite their importance for preventing or slowing extinctions and preserving biodiversity, conservation interventions are rarely assessed systematically for their global impact.  Islands house a disproportionately higher amount of biodiversity compared with mainlands, much of which is highly threatened with extinction.  Indeed, island species make up nearly two-thirds of recent extinctions.  Islands therefore are critical targets of conservation.  We used an extensive literature and database review paired with expert interviews to estimate the global benefits of an increasingly used conservation action to stem biodiversity loss: eradication of invasive mammals on islands.  We found 236 native terrestrial insular faunal species (596 populations) that benefitted through positive demographic and/or distributional responses from 251 eradications of invasive mammals on 181 islands.  Seven native species (eight populations) were negatively impacted by invasive mammal eradication.  Four threatened species had their International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List extinction-risk categories reduced as a direct result of invasive mammal eradication, and no species moved to a higher extinction-risk category.  We predict that 107 highly threatened birds, mammals, and reptiles on the IUCN Red List—6% of all these highly threatened species—likely have benefitted from invasive mammal eradications on islands. Because monitoring of eradication outcomes is sporadic and limited, the impacts of global eradications are likely greater than we report here.  Our results highlight the importance of invasive mammal eradication on islands for protecting the world's most imperiled fauna.”

Gough Island's Tristan Albatrosses will benefit by the planned eradication of invasive House Mice

Photograph by Andrea Angel and Ross Wanless

Reference:

Jones, H.P. et al. 2016.  Invasive mammal eradication on islands results in substantial conservation gains.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1521179113.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 05 April 2016