Population trends and breeding success of albatrosses and giant petrels at Gough Island in the face of at-sea and on-land threats

Antarctic Science

Volumn 26, Issue 2, 2013, Pages 163-171

  Cuthbert, Richard J ^a   Cooper, John ^b   Ryan, Peter G ^c  

^a RSPB CENTRE FOR CONSERVATION SCIENCE   (United Kingdom)

^b STELLENBOSCH UNIVERSITY   (South Africa)

^c UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN   (South Africa)

Author keywords

conservation; demography; fisheries bycatch; house mouse; predation; Tristan da Cunha

Indexed keywords

ANNUAL VARIATION; BYCATCH; ENDANGERED SPECIES; INTRODUCED SPECIES; MAMMAL; POPULATION DECLINE; POPULATION SIZE; POPULATION STRUCTURE; PREDATION; REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS; RODENT; SEABIRD;

GOUGH ISLAND; SAINT HELENA; TRISTAN DA CUNHA;

DIOMEDEA DABBENENA; DIOMEDEIDAE; MACRONECTES GIGANTEUS; MAMMALIA; MUS MUSCULUS; PHOEBETRIA FUSCA; PROCELLARIIDAE; THALASSARCHE CHLORORHYNCHOS;

EID: 84920148948     PISSN: 09541020     EISSN: 13652079     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0954102013000424     Document Type: Article

References (41)

1. ACAP (AGREEMENT ON THE CONSERVATION OF ALBATROSSES AND PETRELS). 2009a. Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, species assessments: sooty albatross. Phoebetria fusca. http://www.acap.aq/index.php/species-assessments, accessed September 2009.
2. ACAP (AGREEMENT ON THE CONSERVATION OF ALBATROSSES AND PETRELS). 2009b. Agreement on the conservation of albatrosses and petrels, species assessments: southern giant petrel Macronectes giganteus. http://www.acap.aq/index.php/species-assessments, accessed September 2009.
3. ACAP (AGREEMENT ON THE CONSERVATION OF ALBATROSSES AND PETRELS). 2009c. Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, species assessments: Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross Thalassarche chlororhynchos. http://www.acap.aq/index.php/species-assessments, accessed September 2009.
4. ARNOLD, J.M., BRAULT, S. & CROXALL, J.P. 2006. Albatross populations in peril: a population trajectory for black-browed albatrosses at South Georgia. Ecological Applications, 16, 419-432.
5. BARBRAUD, C., ROLLAND, V., JENOUVRIER, S., NEVOUX, M., DELORD, K. & WEIMERSKIRCH, H. 2012. Effects of climate change and fisheries bycatch on Southern Ocean seabirds: a review. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 454, 285-307.
6. BAKER, G.B., DOUBLE, M.C., GALES, R., TUCK, G.N., ABBOTT, C.L., RYAN, P.G., PETERSEN, S.L., ROBERTSON, C. & ALDERMAN, R. 2007. A global assessment of the impact of fisheries-related mortality on shy and whitecapped albatrosses: conservation implications. Biological Conservation, 137, 319-333.
7. BERRUTI, A. 1979. Breeding biology of the sooty albatrosses Phoebetria fusca and Phoebetria palpebrata. Emu, 79, 161-175.
8. BESTER, M.N., WILSON, J.W., BURLE, M-H. & HOFMEYR, C.J.C. 2006. Population trends of sub-Antarctic fur seals at Gough Island. South African Journal of Wildlife Research, 36, 191-194.
9. BIRDLIFE INTERNATONAL. 2012a. Save the albatross. www.birdlife.org/seabirds/save-the-albatross.html, accessed February 2012.
10. BIRDLIFE INTERNATONAL. 2012b. Species factsheet: Diomedea dabbenena. http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id530013&m51, accessed April 2012.
11. CROXALL, J.P., PRINCE, P.A., ROTHERY, P. & WOOD, A.G. 1998. Population changes in albatrosses at South Georgia. In ROBERTSON, G. & GALES, R., eds. Albatross biology and conservation. Chipping Norton: Surrey Beatty & Sons, 69-83.
12. CROXALL, J.P., BUTCHART, S.H.M., LASCELLES, B., STATTERSFIELD, A.J., SULLIVAN, B., SYMES, A. & TAYLOR, P. 2012. Seabird conservation status, threats and priority actions: a global assessment. Bird Conservation International, 22, 1-34.
13. CUTHBERT, R. & HILTON, G. 2004. Introduced house mice Mus musculus: a significant predator of endangered and endemic birds on Gough Island, South Atlantic Ocean? Biological Conservation, 117, 483-489.
14. CUTHBERT, R. & SOMMER, E. 2004a. Population size and trends of four globally threatened seabirds at Gough Island, South Atlantic Ocean. Marine Ornithology, 32, 97-103.
15. CUTHBERT, R. & SOMMER, E. 2004b. Gough Island bird monitoring manual. RSPB Research Report, No. 5. Sandy, UK: Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, 52 pp.
16. CUTHBERT, R.J., SOMMER, E.S., RYAN, P.G., COOPER, J. & HILTON, G. 2003. Demography and population trends of the Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross Thalassarche chlororhynchos. Condor, 105, 439-452.
17. CUTHBERT, R., SOMMER, E., RYAN, P.G., COOPER, J. & HILTON, G. 2004. Demography and conservation of the Tristan albatross Diomedea [exulans] dabbenena. Biological Conservation, 117, 471-481.
18. CUTHBERT, R.J., LOUW, H., PARKER, G., REXER-HUBER, K. & VISSER, P. 2013a. Observations of mice predation on sooty albatross and Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross chicks at Gough Island. Antarctic Science, 10.1017/S0954102013000126.
19. CUTHBERT, R.J., LOUW, H., LURLING, J., PARKER, G., REXER-HUBER, K., SOMMER, E., VISSER, P. & RYAN, P.G. 2013b. Low burrow occupancy and breeding success of burrowing petrels at Gough Island: a consequence of mouse predation. Bird Conservation International, 10.1017/S0959270912000494.
20. DELORD, K., BESSON, D., BARBRAUD, C. & WEIMERSKIRCH, H. 2008. Population trends in a community of large procellariiforms of Indian Ocean: potential effects of environment and fisheries interactions. Biological Conservation, 141, 1840-1856.
21. GALES, R. 1998. Albatross populations: status and threats. In ROBERTSON, G. & GALES, R., eds. Albatross biology and conservation. Chipping Norton: Surrey Beatty & Sons, 20-45.
22. GALES, R., BROTHERS, N. & REID, T. 1998. Seabird mortality in the Japanese tuna longline fishery around Australia, 1988-1995. Biological Conservation, 86, 37-56.
23. HUNTER, S. 1983. The food and feeding ecology of the giant petrels Macronectes halli and M. giganteus at South Georgia. Journal of Zoology, London, 200, 521-538.
24. NEVES, T.S. & OLMOS, F. 1998. Albatross mortality in fisheries off the coast of Brazil. In ROBERTSON, G. & GALES, R., eds. Albatross biology and conservation. Chipping Norton: Surrey Beatty & Sons, 214-219.
25. PANNEKOEK, J. & VAN STRIEN, A.J. 2001. TRIM 3 manual. TRends and Indices for Monitoring data. Research paper No. 0102. Voorburg: Statistics Netherlands, 58 pp.
26. PARKES, J. 2008. A feasibility study for the eradication of house mice from Gough Island. RSPB Research Report, No. 34, Sandy, UK: Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, 51 pp.
27. PETERSEN, S.L., HONIG, M.B., RYAN, P.G. & UNDERHILL, L.G. 2009. Seabird bycatch in the pelagic longline fishery off southern Africa. African Journal of Marine Science, 31, 191-204.
28. ROLLAND, V., BARBRAUD, C. & WEIMERSKIRCH, H. 2009. Assessing the impact of fisheries, climate and disease on the dynamics of the Indian yellow-nosed albatross. Biological Conservation, 142, 1084-1095.
29. RYAN, P.G., COOPER, J. & GLASS, J.P. 2001. Population status, breeding biology and conservation of the Tristan albatross Diomedea [exulans] dabbenena. Bird Conservation International, 11, 33-46.
30. RYAN, P.G., KEITH, D.G. & KROESE, M. 2002. Seabird bycatch by tuna longline fisheries off southern Africa, 1998-2000. South African Journal of Marine Science, 24, 103-110.
31. RYAN, P.G., JONES, M.G., DYER, B.M., UPFOLD, L. & CRAWFORD, R.J. 2009. Recent population estimates and trends in numbers of albatrosses and giant petrels breeding at the sub-Antarctic Prince Edward Islands. South African Journal of Marine Science, 31, 409-417.
32. TORR, N., GOLDING, C. & CUTHBERT, R. 2010. Preliminary operational plan for eradicating house mice from Gough Island. Version 1.0. Sandy, UK: Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, 73 pp.
33. TUCK, G.N., POLACHECK, T., CROXALL, J.P. & WEIMERSKIRCH, H. 2001. Modelling the impact of fishery bycatches on albatross populations. Journal of Applied Ecology, 38, 1182-1196.
34. TUCK, G.N., PHILLIPS, R.A., THOMPSON, R.B., KLAER, N.L., TAYLOR, F., WANLESS, R.M. & ARRIZABALAGA, H. 2011. An assessment of seabirdfishery interactions in the Atlantic Ocean. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 68, 1628-1637.
35. WACE, N.M. 1961. The vegetation of Gough Island. Ecological Monographs, 31, 337-367.
36. WANLESS, R.M., ANGEL, A., CUTHBERT, R.J., HILTON, G.M. & RYAN, P.G. 2007. Can predation by invasive mice drive seabird extinctions? Biology Letters, 3, 241-244.
37. WANLESS, R.M., RYAN, P.G., ALTWEGG, R., ANGEL, A., COOPER, J., CUTHBERT, R. & HILTON, G.M. 2009. From both sides: dire demographic consequences of carnivorous mice and longlining for the Critically Endangered Tristan albatrosses on Gough Island. Biological Conservation, 142, 1710-1718.
38. WEIMERSKIRCH, H. 2004. Diseases threaten Southern Ocean albatrosses. Polar Biology, 27, 374-379.
39. WEIMERSKIRCH, H. & JOUVENTIN, P. 1998. Changes in population sizes and demographic parameters of six albatross species breeding on the French sub-Antarctic islands. In ROBERTSON, G. & GALES, R., eds. Albatross biology and conservation. Chipping Norton: Surrey Beatty & Sons, 84-91.
40. WEIMERSKIRCH, H., BROTHERS, N. & JOUVENTIN, P. 1997. Population dynamics of wandering albatross Diomedea exulans and Amsterdam albatross D. amsterdamensis in the Indian Ocean and their relationships with longline fisheries: conservation implications. Biological Conservation, 79, 257-270.
41. WOEHLER, E.J., COOPER, J., CROXALL, J.P., FRASER, W.R., KOOYMAN, G.L., MILLER, G.D., NEL, D.C., PATTERSON, D.L., PETER, H.-U., RIBIC, C.A., SALWICKA, K., TRIVELPIECE, W.Z. & WEIMERSKIRCH, H. 2001. A statistical assessment of the status and trends of Antarctic and sub-Antarctic seabirds. Cambridge: SCAR, 43 pp.