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Bird demographic responses to predator removal programs

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Abstract

Invasive predators pose a significant risk to bird populations worldwide. Humans have a long history of removing predators from ecosystems; current island restoration actions typically focus on the removal of invasive predators, such as non-native rodents, from seabird breeding islands. While not overly abundant, the results of predator removal studies provide valuable information on the demographic response of birds, and can assist conservation practitioners with prioritizing invasive predator removal projects. We review such studies focusing on observed demographic responses of bird populations to predator removal campaigns and whether ecological factors are useful in predicting those responses. From the 800+ predator removal programs indentified, a small fraction (n = 112) reported demographic responses of bird populations. Change in productivity was the most commonly reported response, which on average increased by 25.3% (2.5 SE) with predator removal. The best supported model for predicting the change in productivity from predator removal incorporated bird body mass, egg mass, predator type, nest type and an interaction term for body mass and nest type (AICc weight = 0.457). The predicted percent increase in productivity resulting from hypothetical predator removal ranged from 16.9 to 63.0% (mean = 45.0, 5.6 SE), and was lowest for large, surface nesting birds such as albatrosses. The predicted increase in productivity resulting from predator removal alone was insufficient to reverse the predicted population decline for 30–67% of bird species considered, suggesting that in many cases, removal of predators must be performed in combination with other conservation actions in order to ensure a stable or increasing population.

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Acknowledgments

This work was conducted as a part of the ‘Exploring compensatory mitigation and markets as mechanisms for resolving fisheries bycatch and biodiversity conservation conflicts’ Working Group supported by the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, a Center funded by NSF (Grant #DEB-0553768), the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the State of California. We would like to thank A. Bond and P. Dunstan for their insightful comments and guidance on earlier versions of this manuscript. Financial support for this project was provided by the Commonwealth Environment Research Facilities Programme and an Endeavour Research Fellowship from the Government of Australia. Funding for CJD was provided by the Alcoa Foundation, the Switzer Foundation, Resources for the Future, and Cornell University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia

    Jennifer L. Lavers

  2. Wealth from Oceans National Flagship, CSIRO Marine Research, GPO Box 1538, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia

    Chris Wilcox

  3. Advanced Conservation Strategies, P.O. Box 1201, Midway, UT, 84049, USA

    C. Josh Donlan

  4. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    C. Josh Donlan

Authors
  1. Jennifer L. Lavers
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  2. Chris Wilcox
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  3. C. Josh Donlan
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Correspondence to Jennifer L. Lavers.

Appendix 1

Appendix 1

See Table 4.

Table 4 Summary of published studies reporting the demographic response of birds to the control or eradication of predators (including multi-predator studies)
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Lavers, J.L., Wilcox, C. & Josh Donlan, C. Bird demographic responses to predator removal programs. Biol Invasions 12, 3839–3859 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-010-9776-x

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