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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 36(3)

Removal of American mink increases the success of simulated nests in linear habitat

Eliška Padyšáková A F , Martin Šálek A B , Lukáš Poledník C , František Sedláček A B and Tomáš Albrecht D E
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, CZ-370 01 České Budějovice, Czech Republic.

B Institute of Systems Biology and Ecology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, CZ-370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic.

C ALKA Wildlife, Lidéřovice 62, CZ-380 01 Dačice, Czech Republic.

D Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Kvetna 8, CZ-603 65 Brno, Czech Republic.

E Department of Zoology, Faculty of Sciences, Charles University, CZ-128 44 Prague, Czech Republic.

F Corresponding author. Email: paddysek@centrum.cz

Wildlife Research 36(3) 225-230 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR08022
Submitted: 6 February 2008  Accepted: 8 February 2009   Published: 15 April 2009

Abstract

Alien species of predators may negatively influence the breeding success of waterfowl. Previous studies have tested whether predator removal causes an increase in nest success and breeding densities; however, conclusions have been contradictory. Here we examine the impact of the removal of introduced American mink, Mustela vison, on the survival of simulated waterfowl nests in two treatment and two control transects, in a linear section of habitat along the Jihlava River, Czech Republic. Nest survival was recorded during two periods (June and July), with minks removed after the first replicate. In total, eight minks were removed from treatment transects. Whereas nest survival in control transects slightly decreased from June to July, the opposite trend, i.e. an increase in nest survival, was apparent in the treatment transects. On the basis of the results, we suggest that a local reduction in mink populations is an effective short-term tool for the conservation of protected waterfowl species. Our study adds to others, reporting potentially adverse effects of alien, introduced, carnivorous species on local biota.


Acknowledgements

We thank Aleš Toman and Štěpán Zápotočný for invaluable help with mink removal. We thank Dr Andrea Taylor, Associate Editor of Wildlife Research, Karel Weidinger and three unknown referees for inspiring observations. This study was financed by the Agency for Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection of the Czech Republic (Project VaV/620/1/03) and the Czech Ministry of Education (Project MSMT6007665801). TA was partially supported by the Research Centrum Project No. LC06073, VaV project SP-2d3-60-08 and the Czech Ministry of Education projects 0021620828 and AV0Z60930519. We declare that the experiments comply with the current laws of the Czech Republic.


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