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Conservation Biology of the Endangered St. Helena Plover Charadrius Sanctaehelenae

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Conservation Biology of the Endangered St. Helena Plover Charadrius Sanctaehelenae Conservation biology of the endangered St. Helena Plover Charadrius sanctaehelenae Volume 1 of 1 Fiona Ewing Burns A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Bath Department of Biology and Biochemistry June 2011 COPYRIGHT Attention is drawn to the fact that copyright of this thesis rests with its author. A copy of this thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with the author and they must not copy it or use material from it except as permitted by law or with the consent of the author This thesis may be made available for consultation within the University Library and may be photocopied or lent to other libraries for the purposes of consultation. 1 Contents Acknowledgements...........................................................................................................3 Abstract .............................................................................................................................5 Introduction.......................................................................................................................6 Chapter 1: Leg flags versus colour rings: a comparison of marking methods using a small shorebird, the St Helena Plover.............................................................................20 Chapter 2: The impact of introduced predators on an island endemic, the St. Helena Plover Charadrius sanctaehelenae .................................................................................33 Chapter 3: Influence of habitat on nest survival and distribution of the St. Helena Plover Charadrius sanctaehelenae.............................................................................................61 Chapter 4: Sex differences in behaviour, but not mortality risk, in a critically endangered shorebird ......................................................................................................93 Chapter 5: More harm than good? Assessing the impact of nest exclosures for the endangered St. Helena Plover Charadrius sanctaehelenae ..........................................121 Chapter 6: Persistence of an island endemic in a heavily altered environment: assessing outcomes of conservation management options ...........................................................143 Conclusions...................................................................................................................181 Appendix 1 – Visual Basic code for population model ................................................188 2 Acknowledgements I was lucky to have three PhD supervisors, Tamás Székely, Mark Bolton and Neil McCulloch. Neil McCulloch has spent more time than anyone else working with the St. Helena Plover and it was his commitment to the conservation of this species that led to this project. He has provided thoughtful comments on my work and was kind enough to share his previous data with me. Mark Bolton’s visit to St Helena during my first year was instrumental. It allowed me to start collecting meaningful data almost from day one. He also provided guidance and support, in particular when I was getting to grips with programming and population modelling. It was Tamás Székely’s enthusiasm that convinced the university to fund this work. Tamas was always ready with an unending flow of new ideas and energy. On St Helena my thanks go in particular to Eddie Duff, the Wirebird man. He taught me a great deal about the plovers, and shared the data he collected with me willingly. Importantly he kept my spirits up during long days in the remotest parts of the island. Other staff of the St Helena National Trust proved logistical help and support when I was on the island. The Government of St Helena kindly allowed this research to take place, and allowed me access to their GIS database. Many other people in St Helena have assisted and supported me and this project, in particular Andrew Darlow, Phil Lambdon and the Thorpe family, and my thanks are extended to them all. Several field assistants worked on the project, largely on their own and partly out of their own pockets; Annalea Beard, Robbie Watt and Chris Dodd. The data they collected was invaluable to the PhD; in particular they collected much of the predator density data. The work of Annalea Beard and Robbie Watt was sponsored by a grant from Chester Zoo. Will Kirby took his sabbatical from the RSPB to work with me on St Helena and his guidance and mist netting skills are much appreciated. My diverse and interesting colleagues in the Biodiversity lab have been an important part of the PhD for me. Not only did they provide friendship and advice, but the constant stream of visitors to the lab broadened my experience of the world and the lives of others. In particular Peter Long, James St Clair and John Burnside were always 3 ready to give advice or talk over the latest analysis. My thanks are extended to the whole lab: Araceli Argüelles-Ticó, Gabriel García-Peña, Jorge Parra, Freya Harrison, Clemens Küpper, René van Dijk, Mark O’Connell, Richard Young, Monif AlRashidi, Sylvain Gerber, Anne O'Connor, Martin Hughes, Natalie Dos Remedios and Ross Mounce. My sincerest thanks go to Sarah Eglington and Clare Stringer for offering me the great opportunities that gave me the experience necessary to even start the PhD. Professor Xavier Espadaler kindly identified the ant species involved in nest predation from specimens. The population model code is based on previous work by Mark Bolton and Norman Ratcliffe. Finally and importantly, I would like to thank Pete Burgers for supporting me through the PhD, for not objecting to me being away for so long, and for his proof reading skills. Also, to my family and friends, you have probably heard far more about St Helena and its birds than you ever wanted to, your support and patience knows no bounds. 4 Abstract Oceanic islands contribute significantly to global biodiversity due to the high levels of endemism they exhibit. Many island species have, however, become extinct following the arrival of humans, and many others remain threatened. This thesis focuses on one of these threatened island species; the St. Helena Plover, Charadrius sanctaehelenae. The objectives of my PhD were threefold: to understand the current status of the St. Helena Plover, to investigate aspects of its environment that may threaten its persistence, and to compare conservation options. Observational data were used to understand how variation in the environment influences the plover’s distribution and demography. This information was used to inform a controlled trial investigating the use of nest exclosures as a way to improve productivity. New understanding of the species’ population ecology was brought together to create a stochastic meta-population model. This model was used to understand the influence of demographic and life history parameters on the population growth rate and to compare alternative conservation options. Indicators of the future status of the St. Helena Plover population appear mixed; with numbers predicted to decline slowly, but with a high chance of species persistence over the timeframe simulated, 50 years. Nest predation by introduced species, predominately cats, was predicted to suppress nest survival and bring productivity at some sites below that required for population stability. The use of nest exclosures did not increase nest survival and led to a decrease in adult survival. Habitat characteristics were more important in determining the species distribution than influencing its demography. The plovers appeared to select breeding habitat to maximise the visibility from the nest and the accessibility of invertebrate prey. Simulations suggested that predator control would have a large beneficial effect on the population growth rate and that concurrent habitat improvement would have greater than additive benefits. Targets for conservation management include Deadwood Plain; predator control as this key site was predicted to lead to the largest increase in the overall population growth rate, and Man and Horse; there may be potential at this site to increase adult survival, which was found to be the most influential demographic parameter. 5 Introduction Islands Islands are important. They are important for science, they are important for biodiversity and their biodiversity is threatened. Islands with their simplified ecosystems and often long isolation have proven instrumental in the development of the key theories that underpin much of modern ecology, notably evolutionary theory and biogeography. “It is not too much to say that when we have mastered the difficulties present by the peculiarities of island life we shall find it comparatively easy to deal with the more complex and less clearly defined problems of continental distributions” (Island Life, Wallace 1902, quoted in Whittaker and Fernández-Palacios 2007) The long isolation of islands resulted in a wealth of convergent evolutionary pathways, where species of vastly different lineages come to inhabit similar ecological niches; and so serve as essentially multiple replicates of the evolutionary process. Because of this, islands are full of unique and unusual species and it is this aspect that most captures the human imagination. Nevertheless, the flora and fauna of islands share a great many characteristics. These include; high initial dispersal ability and its subsequent loss, size change, and behavioural change; for instance reduction in clutch size in birds
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