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Invasive rats strengthen predation pressure on bird eggs in a South Pacific island rainforest

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  • معلومة اضافية
    • Contributors:
      Institut méditerranéen de biodiversité et d'écologie marine et continentale (IMBE); Avignon Université (AU)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut de recherche pour le développement IRD : UMR237-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
    • بيانات النشر:
      HAL CCSD
      Oxford University Press
    • الموضوع:
      2017
    • Collection:
      Aix-Marseille Université: HAL
    • نبذة مختصرة :
      International audience ; Invasive rats (Rattus spp.) are known to have pervasive impacts on island birds, particularly on their nesting success. To conserve or restore bird populations, numerous invasive rat control or eradication projects are undertaken on islands worldwide. However, such projects represent a huge investment and the decision-making process requires proper assessment of rat impacts. Here, we assessed the influence of two sympatric invasive rats (Rattus rattus and R. exulans) on native bird eggs in a New Caledonian rainforest, using artificial bird-nest monitoring. A total of 178 artificial nests containing two eggs of three different sizes were placed either on the ground or 1.5 m high and monitored at the start of the birds' breeding season. Overall, 12.4% of the nests were depredated during the first 7 days. At site 1, where nests were monitored during 16 days, 41.8% of the nests were depredated. The main predator was the native crow Corvus moneduloides, responsible for 62.9% of the overall predation events. Rats were responsible for only 22.9% of the events, and ate only small and medium eggs at both heights. Our experiment suggests that in New Caledonia, predation pressure by rats strengthens overall bird-nest predation, adding to that by native predators. Experimental rat control operations may allow reduced predation pressure on nests as well as the recording of biodiversity responses after rat population reduction.
    • Relation:
      hal-01681606; https://hal.science/hal-01681606; https://hal.science/hal-01681606/document; https://hal.science/hal-01681606/file/zox009.pdf
    • الرقم المعرف:
      10.1093/cz/zox009
    • الدخول الالكتروني :
      https://hal.science/hal-01681606
      https://hal.science/hal-01681606/document
      https://hal.science/hal-01681606/file/zox009.pdf
      https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zox009
    • Rights:
      info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
    • الرقم المعرف:
      edsbas.E4C47429