A review of the damage caused by invasive wild mammalian herbivores to primary production in New Zealand

Latham, M. Cecilia; Norbury, Grant; Forsyth, David M.; Warburton, Bruce

doi:10.1080/03014223.2019.1689147

Cited by 23 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 94 publications

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“…The importance of non-target captures in our study is arguably not high, with only one capture method recording non-target impacts (ground-netting). The only non-target species captured was another invasive mammal (brushtail possum) that is commonly lethally controlled to protect conservation and production values [43,44].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficacy and Animal Welfare Impacts of Novel Capture Methods for Two Species of Invasive Wild Mammals in New Zealand

Davidson¹,

Warburton

Yockney

et al. 2019

Animals

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All capture methods impose animal welfare impacts, but these impacts are rarely quantified or reported. We present data from two wildlife capture studies that trialled new methods for capturing Bennett’s wallabies (Notamacropus rufogriseus) and red deer (Cervus elaphus) in New Zealand. We used helicopter net-gunning for both species, and compared this method with ground-based netting for wallabies and helicopter darting for red deer, using, for the first time in New Zealand, the fast-acting opioid thiafentanil. Efficacy and animal welfare parameters quantified were duration of handling and recovery, and frequency of adverse events, including escape, injury, and mortality. Cost-effectiveness was quantified for each method. Capture mortalities occurred for all methods for both species. For red deer, chemical immobilisation led to fewer traumatic injuries and fewer mortalities, while for wallabies, net-gunning led to fewer mortalities. Net-gunning was an efficient capture method for deer in open habitat, but led to the escape of 54% of wallabies and one wallaby mortality (4%). Ground-based netting resulted in the mortality of 17% of wallabies at the time of capture, and the capture of non-target species. The cost per captured wallaby was 40% more expensive for net-gunning (NZ$1045) than for ground-based netting (NZ$745), but, once corrected for mortalities at the time of capture and suitability of individuals for GPS-collar deployment, this was reduced to 29% and 12% more expensive, respectively. Net-gunning for red deer resulted in the escape of 13% of animals and mortality of 10% of animals at the time of capture. Helicopter-based darting for red deer using thiafentanil (c. 0.03–0.06 mg/kg) had high capture efficacy (zero escapes), rapid induction times (mean of 3 min), and a low mortality rate at 14 days post-capture (3%), but it was more expensive per deer captured and collared than aerial netting (NZ$2677 and NZ$2234, respectively). We recommend reporting of adverse event data for all wildlife capture techniques to permit continual refinement of field methods.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficacy and Animal Welfare Impacts of Novel Capture Methods for Two Species of Invasive Wild Mammals in New Zealand

Davidson¹,

Warburton

Yockney

et al. 2019

Animals

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“…Invasive wild mammalian herbivores can have significant unwanted impacts on indigenous ecosystems and production landscapes (Wardle et al 2001, C ôté et al 2004, Hone 2007, Forsyth et al 2015, Latham et al 2017, 2020b. To mitigate these impacts, invasive populations either need to be reduced below a level at which they cause unacceptable damage, or eradicated (Parkes and Murphy 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…New Zealand has been widely impacted by introduced wild mammalian herbivores and predators (King 2005). There is a long history of lethal control conducted by management agencies to minimize the geographic spread and mitigate the unwanted impacts of these species (King 2005, Latham et al 2020b. Despite this, some pest species continue to spread and impact indigenous ecosystems and production landscapes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bennett's wallaby was also introduced to Britain and Europe where a few populations persist in low numbers (Long 2003, English andCaravaggi 2020). In New Zealand, both species of wallabies have negatively affected indigenous vegetation in shrublands and forest, damaged seedlings in exotic plantation forests, and grazed and fouled pasture (Warburton 2005a, b, Latham et al 2020b. Therefore, halting or reversing their geographical spread has become a priority for conservationists, affected landowners, and management agencies (Latham et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Detection probabilities and surveillance sensitivities for managing an invasive mammalian herbivore

et al. 2021

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“…Polyphagous mammalian pests [ 1 ] and insect pests [ 2 ] challenge the sustainability of agricultural production through direct crop damage and disease transmission [ 2 ]. Crop losses of up to 50–60% due to insect damage are reported from various parts of the world [ 2 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid PCR-based method for herbivore dietary evaluation using plant-specific primers

2021

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Polyphagous pests cause significant economic loss worldwide through feeding damage on various cash crops. However, their diets in agricultural landscapes remain largely unexplored. Pest dietary evaluation in agricultural fields is a challenging task currently approached through visual observation of plant feeding and microscopic identification of semi-digested plant material in pest’s guts. While molecular gut content analysis using metabarcoding approaches using universal primers (e.g., rbcl and trnL) have been successful in evaluating polyphagous pest diet, this method is relatively costly and time-consuming. Hence, there is a need for a rapid, specific, sensitive, and cost-effective method to screen for crops in the gut of pests. This is the first study to develop plant-specific primers that target various regions of their genomes, designed using a whole plant genome sequence. We selected Verticillium wilt disease resistance protein (VE-1) and pathogenesis related protein-coding genes 1–5 (PR-1-5) as our targets and designed species-specific primers for 14 important crops in the agroecosystems. Using amplicon sizes ranging from 115 to 407 bp, we developed two multiplex primer mixes that can separate nine and five plant species per PCR reaction, respectively. These two designed primer mixes provide a rapid, sensitive and specific route for polyphagous pest dietary evaluation in agroecosystems. This work will enable future research to rapidly expand our knowledge on the diet preference and range of crops that pests consume in various agroecosystems, which will help in the redesign and development of new crop rotation regimes to minimize polyphagous pest pressure and damage on crops.

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A review of the damage caused by invasive wild mammalian herbivores to primary production in New Zealand

Cited by 23 publications

References 94 publications

Efficacy and Animal Welfare Impacts of Novel Capture Methods for Two Species of Invasive Wild Mammals in New Zealand

Efficacy and Animal Welfare Impacts of Novel Capture Methods for Two Species of Invasive Wild Mammals in New Zealand

Detection probabilities and surveillance sensitivities for managing an invasive mammalian herbivore

Rapid PCR-based method for herbivore dietary evaluation using plant-specific primers

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