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De L'oriole De Martinique Distribution, écologie & statut de conservation de l’Oriole de Martinique (Icterus bonana) Maël Dewynter, Catherine Godefroid, Beatriz Conde & Vincent Pelletier avec la participation de Willy Raitière Février 2014 1 Distribution, écologie & statut de conservation de l’Oriole de Martinique (Icterus bonana) Cette étude a été réalisée pour le compte de la DEAL Martinique. Nous tenons à remercier vive- Les membres de l’association ment la DEAL Martinique et Le Carouge, par le biais de en particulier Julien Mailles son président David Belfan qui nous ont fait l’honneur nous ont transmis des don- de nous confier cette étude. nées personnelles ou issues Comme à son habitude, de divers projets d’étude et il s’est impliqué bien au- de conservation menés par delà du suivi administratif du l’association. Qu’ils soient dossier, notamment par ses remerciés pour leur contribu- recherches de témoignages tion majeure à cette étude. sur la présence de l’espèce. Nous tenons à remercier par- En Martinique, l’implication ticulièrement Maurice-Yves des agents de la DEAL Roy-Camille qui nous a très dans les études faunistiques aimablement fourni plusieurs dépasse souvent le cadre localités précieuses du Ca- administratif. Ce mode de rouge et du Vacher, et dont fonctionnement, motivant, est le site internet Birds & Co à promouvoir : la présence est une mine d’informations ponctuelle des services de la ornithologiques. DEAL sur le terrain permet d’une part aux prestataires de Nos remerciements à juger de l’intérêt porté par les Christelle Bérenger et au services publics à leur étude, comité de pilotage de la base mais il permet également aux de données Faune-Marti- agents des services de l’État nique qui nous ont transmis de maîtriser, par l’expérience gracieusement les données de terrain, les dossiers qu’ils issues de la base. instruisent. Ces sessions de terrains partagées sont en Enfin, merci à Guillaume outre l’occasion d’évoquer Simon, de l’ONF, pour sa les aspects méthodologiques. contribution à l’étude. Les personnels de la DEAL n’ont malheureusement pas été disponibles lors de cette session de terrain. Mais nous souhaitons que ce type de collaboration se poursuive BIOTOPE Amazonie-Caraïbes dans le temps. 30 domaine de Montabo Lotissement Ribal 97300 Cayenne Tel: 0594 39 18 02 Fax: 0594 39 14 06 Site Internet : www.biotope.fr Responsable du projet Prospections Rédaction & mise en page Maël Dewynter Beatriz Conde, Catherine Maël Dewynter, Catherine 30 domaine de Montabo Godefroid, Vincent Pelletier, Godefroid Lotissement Ribal Willy Raitière, Maël Dewynter 97300 Cayenne Cartographie & analyses Tel : 05 94 39 18 02 Catherine Godefroid, Maël Gsm : 06 94 95 28 08 Dewynter [email protected] [email protected] 2 Distribution, écologie & statut de conservation de l’Oriole de Martinique (Icterus bonana) CONTEXTE L’Oriole de la Martinique, ou Carouge, est une es- and P. Villard, 1998). Il est également conseillé de pèce strictement endémique de la Martinique, mettre en oeuvre un programme de reproduction classée dans la catégorie Vulnérable de l’UICN en captivité visant à accompagner les effort de con- (IUCN 2013). solidation des populations en cas de déclin drama- tique ... Ses populations sont considérées en déclin depuis les années 1970 suite à l’arrivée en 1948 du Vach- Consciente de l’enjeu patrimonial que représente le er luisant ou “Merle de Sainte-Lucie” (Molothrus Carouge, la DEAL Martinique a souhaité lancer en bonariensis), une espèce d’Icteridae colonisatrice 2014 une étude permettant d’établir son statut de pratiquant le parasitisme de couvée. conservation régional. L’expansion du Vacher luisant, liée à la déforesta- Afin de répondre aux attentes de la DEAL, Biotope tion, est perçue comme une menace majeure pour Amazonie-Caraïbes, l’association Le Carouge et Di- le Carouge : certaines estimations annonçant la delphis se sont regroupés pour mener cette étude perte de 75% des nichées de l’Oriole par parasit- dans le cadre d’une convention de recherche. Sur le isme (Feldmann & Villard (1998) in BirdLife Inter- modèle des études menées sur Allobates chalcopis national, 2014), sont d’ailleurs reprises dans la lit- (Biotope, 2011 & 2012 ; Fouquet et al., 2013), sur térature récente (HBW Alive, 2014). le Trigonocéphale (Biotope, 2012) et sur le Colibri à tête bleue (Biotope, Didelphis & Le Carouge, à Selon Bénito-Espinal & Hautcastel (2007) et HBW paraître) nous avons proposé d’établir le statut de Alive (2014), l’Oriole de la Martinique fréquente conservation de l’espèce en mettant en œuvre des préférentiellement les mangroves et les forêts campagnes de prospection et en faisant appel à la sèches sur sols calcaires, mais également les forêts modélisation de niche écologique pour délimiter humides, les plantations et les zones urbaines. Sa l’aire de distribution de l’espèce en Martinique. répartition s’étend en outre du niveau de la mer à plus de 700 m d’altitude (Bénito-Espinal & Haut- Cette première mission - entièrement dédiée au castel, 2007). Raffaele et al. (1998) considèrent Carouge - a eu lieu du 17 au 21 février 2014. Ces que l’espèce est présente surtout dans le Sud et le cinq journées de prospections intensives dans Centre-Nord de la Martinique. le sud de la Martinique ont permis de compléter significativement la base de données des localités Les travaux de Feldmann et Villard (1998), cités de l’Oriole. Ces nouvelles données, associées aux par BirdLife International (2014), établissent une localités notées dans le nord de l’île à l’occasion densité de 2,4 orioles par hectare dans le Centre d’une étude dédiée au Colibri à tête bleue (25 au de la Martinique. La population totale est, par ail- 30 novembre 2013) et aux données fournies par leurs, estimée à 6.000 - 15.000 individus matures. l’association Le Carouge et par les naturalistes rési- Enfin, Feldmann et Villard (1998) considèrent que dents en Martinique, nous permettent de redéfinir le déclin dramatique suggéré à la fin des années 90 les caractéristiques de la niche écologique du Ca- doit être considéré avec prudence en absence de rouge. données. Les 64 localités précises, à présent regroupées dans Face à ces constats, l’UICN et BirdLife International la base Carouge, servent de socle tout au long de ce préconisent de mener une étude visant à clari- rapport pour explorer les préférences écologiques fier le statut de conservation et la répartition du de l’espèce, pour délimiter son aire de répartition Carouge, notamment en lien avec les populations et pour cartographier les menaces auxquelles elle de Vacher luisant. Parmi les actions de conserva- fait face. In fine, nous estimons que les données tion suggérées, le contrôle de la déforestation est récoltées sont suffisantes pour établir le statut de présenté comme le moyen le plus sûr de maîtriser conservation de l’espèce. l’extension des populations de Vacher et ainsi de limiter le parasitisme sur le Carouge. Parallèlement, il est suggéré d’initier une campagne de sensibilisation visant à promouvoir auprès de grand public le Carouge, comme l’unique espèce d’oiseau endémique de la Martinique (P. Feldmann 3 Distribution, écologie & statut de conservation de l’Oriole de Martinique (Icterus bonana) Les origines de l’Oriole de la Martinique Le genre Icterus (famille des Ictéridés), comprend Quoiqu’il en soit, le Carouge partage des relations 34 espèces d’orioles (HBW alive, 2014), distribuées de parenté plus étroites avec des espèces résiden- du nord de l’Argentine au sud du Canada (Jaramillo tes de la Caraïbe et de l’Amérique du sud qu’avec & Burke 1999). des espèces migratrices d’Amérique du nord et d’Amérique centrale (I. spurius, I. fuertesi et I. pros- Les travaux récents sur les relations de parenté themelas), d’espèces endémiques du nord des An- entre les orioles ont abouti à un arbre phylogé- tilles (I. leucopteryx, endémique de la Jamaïque) nétique relativement consensuel (Jacobsen et al., ou fréquentant sporadiquement les Antilles I.( gal- 2010 ; figure 1). L’Oriole de la Martinique, Icterus bula, I. cucullatus, I. icterus). bonana, s’insère dans un clade de sept espèces regroupant des taxons endémiques des Antilles (I. Ces données ne permettent pas de reconstruire dominicensis endémique d’Hispaniola, I. laudabilis, l’origine des espèces du groupe, mais elles soulig- endémique de Sainte-Lucie et I. oberi, endémique nent la relative jeunesse des espèces endémiques de Montserrat) et d’Amérique du sud (I. auricapillus des petites AntillesI. ( bonana, I. oberi, I. laudabilis) (extrême nord de l’Amérique du sud), I. cayanensis et d’Hispaniola (I. dominicensis) induite probable- et I. chrysocephalus (bassin de l’Amazone) parfois ment par une radiation rapide liée à une colonisa- considérées conspécifiques selon les spécialistes). tion récente de l’archipel caraïbéen. Dans le cas des espèces du groupe A1 de Jacobsen et al. (2010), auquel appartient l’Oriole de la Mar- Par ailleurs, Sturge et al. (2009) ont démontré que tinique, les divergences a priori très récentes (< 2 les espèces sud-américaines du groupe A prove- millions d’années) ne permettent pas de résoudre, naient d’une colonisation du continent à partir des à l’aide d’ADN nucléaire (zDNA) tous les noeuds Antilles. Les espèces guyanaises et amazoniennes de l’arbre phylogénétique d’où l’aspect en rateau descendraient donc d’orioles émigrants provenant du clade A1 de la figure 1. Cependant, l’utilisation des Antilles. Ce mode de colonisation d’îles vers les d’autres marqueurs génétiques, comme l’ADN continents est très peu documenté et mérite d’être mitochondrial, permet de dégager une relation souligné. de parenté assez étroite entre le Carouge de la Martinique et l’espèce endémique de Montserrat (I. oberi), tandis que l’espèce de Sainte-Lucie (I. laudabilis) parait étonnament plus divergente du Carouge. Figure 1. Arbres phylogénétiques de 29 espèces d’Icterus basé sur six gènes nucléaires (zDNA) (gauche) et deux gènes mitochondri- aux (mtDNA) (droite).
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