Continuous monitoring of predator control operations at landscape scale

King, Carolyn M.; McDonald, Robert C.; Martin, R. D.; MacKenzie, Darryl I.; Tempero, Grant Wayne; Holmes, Selena J.

doi:10.1111/j.1442-8903.2007.00350.x

Cited by 14 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 30 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Other studies have shown some, but not general, improvements to native biota in the wake of livestock removal (Munro et al 2009, Lawley et al 2013. Generally, no reversal is possible to the conditions that prevailed pre-livestock grazing if original species have become locally extinct or have no chance to immigrate back, or in cases where physical thresholds such as soil degradation have been passed (Hobbs and Harris 2001, King et al 2007, Suding and Hobbs 2009). The chances for immigration of species that have been lost locally will depend strongly on dispersal strategy (e.g., many plants; Lawley et al 2013), or on size and mobility, as in many animals (Dickman 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat‐ and rainfall‐dependent biodiversity responses to cattle removal in an arid woodland–grassland environment

Frank

Wardle

Dickman

et al. 2014

Ecological Applications

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Biodiversity conservation in rangeland environments is often addressed by removing livestock, but inconsistent responses by biota mean that the efficacy of this form of management is hotly debated. Reasons for this inconsistency include the usually short duration and small spatial scale of manipulations compared to the area of grazing properties, as well as divergent responses amongst biota. In low‐productivity arid environments, the pulse‐reserve dynamic also complicates the outcome of manipulations. Here, we tested and extended these ideas in a heterogeneous desert environment in central Australia that consists of small patches of open woodland (gidgee) in a grassland (spinifex) matrix. Taking advantage of a controlled property‐scale removal of cattle, and a rain event that stimulated productivity, we first quantified differences in the vegetation and small vertebrates of these two habitats, and then tracked the diversity, composition, and abundance of these biota for 6–19 months post‐rain. We predicted that the two habitats would differ in the structure, composition, and reproductive output of their constituent plant species. We predicted also that the effects of cattle removal would interact with these habitat differences, with the abundance, richness, and diversity of small mammals and reptiles differing across habitats and grazing treatments. As anticipated, plant species composition in woodland was distinct from that in grassland and varied over time. The effects of cattle removal were habitat specific: Plant composition responded to de‐stocking in woodland, but not in grassland; flowers were more abundant, and palatable plant cover also was greater following cessation of grazing pressure. The responses of small mammals but not reptiles showed some accord with our predictions, varying over time but inconsistently with treatment, and perhaps reflected high variability in capture success. We conclude that the timing and length of sampling are important when evaluating the responses of biota to livestock removal, as is the inclusion of all key habitats in the sampling regime.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat‐ and rainfall‐dependent biodiversity responses to cattle removal in an arid woodland–grassland environment

Frank

Wardle

Dickman

et al. 2014

Ecological Applications

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Two of the three samples of stoats met this condition, probably because in New Zealand they maintain very large home ranges (often to >200 ha: King and Murphy 2005), but do not occupy all parts of them at once. The same applies to ferrets on pastoral farmland (King et al 2007a;King et al 2009). …”

Section: Interrogating Relative Density Indicesmentioning

confidence: 82%

Variable detectability in long-term population surveys of small mammals

2009

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Simple survey methods for small mammals, such as indices of trap captures per unit effort, are often the only practicable means of monitoring populations over the long term and at landscape scale and the only source of valuable historical data. They include two fundamental assumptions about the target populations (uniform distribution and equal detectability). Concern has often been expressed that, if these assumptions are violated, conventional density indices could give misleading results. Site occupancy analysis (SOA) can detect significantly uneven distribution of local populations (from variation in probability of occupancy) and reliability of indices of abundance (from variation in detectability) without requiring enumeration. We use this method to examine standardised capture records from longterm population surveys of non-commensal house mice (Mus musculus), ship rats (Rattus rattus), Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) and stoats (Mustela erminea), sampled in four representative temperate forest habitats in New Zealand. Best fit models generated by SOA were consistent with (1) constant or random probability of occupancy for stoats and dynamic equilibrium probability of occupancy for most populations of mice and rats; (2) widespread sitespecific variation in probability of detection, especially substantial in rats and correlated with habitat covariates; (3) direct correlations between detectability and density index in mice and rats sampled at 50 m intervals over 3 days, probably because the effects on the density index of variation in numbers available to be caught (population size) were much larger than the effects of changes in catchability (individual behaviour); (4) declines after 6 days in detectability of stoats and rats sampled at 3-400 m intervals over 10 days, attributed to a local trap-out effect. Longer-term variations in the density index were consistent with observed changes in reproductive parameters and age structure that are known to follow variations in real numbers. We conclude that violations of the assumptions of uniform distribution and equal detectability, while real, were not sufficient to prevent these data from providing information adequate for (1) short-term population assessments (2) long-term, low-level monitoring and (3) preliminary modelling.

show abstract

“…Lastly, trials in areas with no recent history of pest control could test whether indices obtained from camera traps are sensitive to removal of known numbers of pest individuals (e.g. by shooting or trapping), as has been shown for ferrets (King et al 2007a).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of camera traps and kill traps for detecting mammalian predators: a field trial

Glen

Warburton

Cruz

et al. 2014

New Zealand Journal of Zoology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Currently there are few robust techniques being used in New Zealand to assess the results of pest control targeting predatory mammals such as stoats (Mustela erminea), feral cats (Felis catus) and hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus), with most operations using capture rates from kill traps as a measure of success. We conducted field trials of camera traps to detect these species at two sites-Macraes Flat and Tasman Valley-where intensive predator trapping is conducted by the New Zealand Department of Conservation. We compared camera traps with kill traps in terms of capture rate per 100 trap nights. Camera traps detected all three target species, as well as various non-target animals. Capture rates of cats and hedgehogs were higher with cameras than with kill traps. Comparisons for stoats were inconclusive due to a low number of detections. We suggest that camera traps are suitable for monitoring relative abundance of cats and hedgehogs, and recommend further testing in areas of higher stoat abundance.

show abstract

Continuous monitoring of predator control operations at landscape scale

Cited by 14 publications

References 30 publications

Habitat‐ and rainfall‐dependent biodiversity responses to cattle removal in an arid woodland–grassland environment

Habitat‐ and rainfall‐dependent biodiversity responses to cattle removal in an arid woodland–grassland environment

Variable detectability in long-term population surveys of small mammals

Comparison of camera traps and kill traps for detecting mammalian predators: a field trial

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About