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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Small burrowing petrels nesting on islands
rarely survive introductions of mammalian predators.
On New Island, a population of around two million
pairs of thin-billed prions nests despite the presence of
introduced ship rats, house mice and feral cats. Understanding
the mechanisms of such coexistence is important,
as it is important to establish a baseline for future
monitoring. To do this, prion breeding success was
determined for 7 years and in several habitats. Breeding
success was high, except for the small fraction of
the population that nests in tussock Poa Xabellata
stands, where several lines of evidence suggest significant
predation by rats. Such high breeding success possibly
resulted from predator swamping in this highly
seasonal environment. This study suggests that introduced
mammals do not currently depress thin-billed
prion breeding success on New Island. However, cats
and rodents might have future harmful eVects if external
factors depressed the prion population or allow a
signiWcant population growth of predators on New
Island.
Description
Keywords
Citation
Polar Biology, 30, 391-394