Estimates of productivity and detection probabilities of breeding attempts in the sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus), a burrow-nesting petrel
Jamie Newman A D , David Fletcher B , Henrik Moller A , Corey Bragg A , Darren Scott C and Sam McKechnie AA Centre for the Study of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand.
B Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand.
C 30 Hill Road, Purakanui, Dunedin.
D Corresponding author. Email: jamie.newman@zoology.otago.ac.nz
Wildlife Research 36(2) 159-168 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR06074
Submitted: 16 June 2006 Accepted: 28 October 2008 Published: 20 February 2009
Abstract
Monitoring of breeding success in burrow-nesting seabirds is problematic, owing to the difficulties of detecting occupants in complex burrow systems. We summarise 6 years of monitoring the breeding success of sooty shearwater (tītī, muttonbird, Puffinus griseus) on two southern New Zealand islands, The Snares and Whenua Hou, with a portable infrared camera system. Breeding attempts were monitored three times during the breeding season, i.e. egg laying, hatching and fledging. Overall breeding success was calculated in two stages. First, we estimated breeding success for each island–site–year combination with a model that allowed for imperfect detection of an egg or chick and accounted for the proportion of the breeding season that was covered by monitoring. The resulting estimates for each island were then analysed with a linear model, to provide a single estimate for that island. Breeding success was found to be highly variable and non-synchronous between islands, with the average proportion of eggs successfully fledging on The Snares (0.35, 0.20–0.52; mean and 95% creditable interval) being considerably lower and more variable than that on Whenua Hou (0.76, 0.70–0.82). Probability of detecting a breeding attempt was higher on The Snares whereas correcting for the proportion of the season monitored had a variable effect, reducing The Snares and Whenua Hou estimates by 27% and 7% respectively. The implications of these findings with respect to the demographic modelling of burrow-nesting species are discussed.
Acknowledgements
We thank the Rakiura Tītī Islands Administering Body for guidance throughout the study, and the New Zealand Department of Conservation for permission to undertake the experiment on The Snares and Whenua Hou. Over the duration of this study, a large number of people, too numerous to list here, assisted with this research; we gratefully thank all those involved. Thanks go also to Grant Blackwell for reviewing this manuscript and to Suzanne Bassett for editing. Financial assistance was given by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, University of Otago, New Zealand Aluminum Smelters Ltd, and South-west Helicopters Ltd. This research was carried out under the approval of the University of Otago Animal Ethics Committee # F02/001. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.
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