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Pacific Conservation Biology Pacific Conservation Biology Society
A journal dedicated to conservation and wildlife management in the Pacific region.
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Effects of an island-wide rodent eradication programme on two threatened bird species

Richard D. Segal https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2185-5035 A B * , Rachel Whitsed https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1261-1514 B , Nicholas Carlile https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5241-6102 C and Melanie Massaro https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9039-1268 A B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Agricultural, Environmental and Veterinary Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Albury, NSW, Australia.

B Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, Albury, NSW, Australia.

C Department of Planning, Industry and Environment NSW, Parramatta, NSW, Australia.

* Correspondence to: rsegal@csu.edu.au

Handling Editor: Rob Davis

Pacific Conservation Biology 29(3) 253-266 https://doi.org/10.1071/PC21068
Submitted: 5 November 2021  Accepted: 24 April 2022   Published: 17 May 2022

© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context: For the past 50 years, rodent eradications have been conducted worldwide to reverse the devastating impacts of introduced rodents on island species. However, few studies have quantitatively measured the effects of rodent eradications on native species.

Aims: This study investigated the effects of a rodent eradication on Lord Howe Island on two native birds.

Methods: To mitigate the risk of Lord Howe currawongs being poisoned during baiting operations, 30–40% of the population were taken into captivity during baiting, while the remaining currawongs were left in the wild. We studied currawong survival, nesting density and breeding success pre- and post-eradication to test how the baiting, a period in captivity, and the removal of rodents affected currawongs. We also investigated breeding success of white terns as they were expected to benefit from the eradication due to predator reduction.

Key results: We found that many currawongs left in the wild disappeared during the baiting period and nesting densities in one part of the island were significantly lower after the eradication. These currawongs likely died of poisoning as they were not resighted for 2 years post-eradication. White tern breeding success did not increase after the rodent eradication, although their predators were largely eliminated.

Conclusions: The captive management of currawongs mitigated the adverse effects of the baiting. As those currawongs that survived had high breeding success, we predict that the population will soon recover to pre-eradication size.

Implications: Our study reinforces the necessity of integrating ecological monitoring as part of future eradications on islands.

Keywords: breeding success, captive management, common white tern, Gygis alba, Lord Howe currawong, Lord Howe Island, rodent eradication, Strepera graculina crissalis.


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