Unexpected involvement of a second rodent species makes impacts of introduced rats more difficult to detect

Abstract Rodent predators are implicated in declines of seabird populations, and removing introduced rats, often, but not always, results in the expected conservation gains. Here we investigated the relationship between small mammal (Norway rat, wood mouse and pygmy shrew) abundance and Manx shearwa...

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Autores principales:	M. Lambert, S. Carlisle, I. Cain, A. Douse, L. Watt
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/1e694ad2a4734b7d98c515bd4390611f
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:1e694ad2a4734b7d98c515bd4390611f2021-12-02T18:37:11ZUnexpected involvement of a second rodent species makes impacts of introduced rats more difficult to detect10.1038/s41598-021-98956-z2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/1e694ad2a4734b7d98c515bd4390611f2021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-98956-zhttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Rodent predators are implicated in declines of seabird populations, and removing introduced rats, often, but not always, results in the expected conservation gains. Here we investigated the relationship between small mammal (Norway rat, wood mouse and pygmy shrew) abundance and Manx shearwater breeding success on the island of Rum, Scotland, and tested whether localised rodenticide treatments (to control introduced Norway rats) increased Manx shearwater breeding success. We found that Manx shearwater breeding success was negatively correlated with late summer indices of abundance for rats and mice, but not shrews. On its own, rat activity was a poor predictor of Manx shearwater breeding success. Rat activity increased during the shearwater breeding season in untreated areas but was supressed in areas treated with rodenticides. Levels of mouse (and shrew) activity increased in areas treated with rodenticides (likely in response to lower levels of rat activity) and Manx shearwater breeding success was unchanged in treated areas (p < 0.1). The results suggest that, unexpectedly, negative effects from wood mice can substitute those of Norway rats and that both species contributed to negative impacts on Manx shearwaters. Impacts were intermittent however, and further research is needed to characterise rodent population trends and assess the long-term risks to this seabird colony. The results have implications for conservation practitioners planning rat control programmes on islands where multiple rodent species are present.M. LambertS. CarlisleI. CainA. DouseL. WattNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q M. Lambert S. Carlisle I. Cain A. Douse L. Watt Unexpected involvement of a second rodent species makes impacts of introduced rats more difficult to detect
description	Abstract Rodent predators are implicated in declines of seabird populations, and removing introduced rats, often, but not always, results in the expected conservation gains. Here we investigated the relationship between small mammal (Norway rat, wood mouse and pygmy shrew) abundance and Manx shearwater breeding success on the island of Rum, Scotland, and tested whether localised rodenticide treatments (to control introduced Norway rats) increased Manx shearwater breeding success. We found that Manx shearwater breeding success was negatively correlated with late summer indices of abundance for rats and mice, but not shrews. On its own, rat activity was a poor predictor of Manx shearwater breeding success. Rat activity increased during the shearwater breeding season in untreated areas but was supressed in areas treated with rodenticides. Levels of mouse (and shrew) activity increased in areas treated with rodenticides (likely in response to lower levels of rat activity) and Manx shearwater breeding success was unchanged in treated areas (p < 0.1). The results suggest that, unexpectedly, negative effects from wood mice can substitute those of Norway rats and that both species contributed to negative impacts on Manx shearwaters. Impacts were intermittent however, and further research is needed to characterise rodent population trends and assess the long-term risks to this seabird colony. The results have implications for conservation practitioners planning rat control programmes on islands where multiple rodent species are present.
format	article
author	M. Lambert S. Carlisle I. Cain A. Douse L. Watt
author_facet	M. Lambert S. Carlisle I. Cain A. Douse L. Watt
author_sort	M. Lambert
title	Unexpected involvement of a second rodent species makes impacts of introduced rats more difficult to detect
title_short	Unexpected involvement of a second rodent species makes impacts of introduced rats more difficult to detect
title_full	Unexpected involvement of a second rodent species makes impacts of introduced rats more difficult to detect
title_fullStr	Unexpected involvement of a second rodent species makes impacts of introduced rats more difficult to detect
title_full_unstemmed	Unexpected involvement of a second rodent species makes impacts of introduced rats more difficult to detect
title_sort	unexpected involvement of a second rodent species makes impacts of introduced rats more difficult to detect
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/1e694ad2a4734b7d98c515bd4390611f
work_keys_str_mv	AT mlambert unexpectedinvolvementofasecondrodentspeciesmakesimpactsofintroducedratsmoredifficulttodetect AT scarlisle unexpectedinvolvementofasecondrodentspeciesmakesimpactsofintroducedratsmoredifficulttodetect AT icain unexpectedinvolvementofasecondrodentspeciesmakesimpactsofintroducedratsmoredifficulttodetect AT adouse unexpectedinvolvementofasecondrodentspeciesmakesimpactsofintroducedratsmoredifficulttodetect AT lwatt unexpectedinvolvementofasecondrodentspeciesmakesimpactsofintroducedratsmoredifficulttodetect
_version_	1718377785890701312

Unexpected involvement of a second rodent species makes impacts of introduced rats more difficult to detect

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