Native or not? Ancient DNA rejects persistence of New Zealand's endemic black swan: A reply to Montano et al.

Rawlence, Nicolas J.; Kardamaki, Afroditi; Easton, Luke J.; Tennyson, Alan J. D.; Scofield, R. Paul; Waters, Jonathan M.

doi:10.1111/eva.12577

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 14 publications

(27 reference statements)

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“…However, rapid population growth following the introductions, and recent DNA evidence, suggest that waves of C. atratus dispersal from Australia before and during the 19th century, and/ or genetic rescue of an extant population through admixing with introduced individuals, may have occurred (Rawlence et al 2017, Montano et al 2018a. Consequently, scientists have debated whether modern Black Swans are native to New Zealand (Montano et al 2018b, Rawlence et al 2018. Some Ngāi Tahi Fig.…”

Section: Study Species and Populationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A demographic model to support customary management of a culturally important waterfowl species

Herse¹,

Lyver²,

Gormley³

et al. 2022

E&S

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Scientific support invited by Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLC) to assist with customary environmental management can improve conservation and community livelihoods. For example, demographic models can help to understand how alternative wildlife management strategies affect population dynamics and harvest sustainability. We developed a demographic model to assist Ngāi Tahu, the southern-most Māori tribe in Aotearoa/New Zealand, in customary management of a culturally important population of Black Swans (kakī anau, Cygnus atratus). We used recent demographic data, including results of an experimental egg harvest study, to inform tangata tiaki (Ngāi Tahu environmental guardians) about how customary egg harvest and background pressure from sport hunting of swans aged ≥ 1 year differentially affect population growth. We also assessed how sport hunting of swans affects the sustainability of customary egg harvest. Estimated population growth (1.018 or presently growing 1.8% annually; 95% CI: 0.808-1.241) was most sensitive to changes in adult and subadult survival, followed by juvenile (first-year) survival, breeding propensity, and nest hatching success. Uncertainty in population growth was almost entirely attributable to uncertainty in swan survival rates after hatching. Sustainable population-level rates of egg harvest varied from none to more than half of all eggs, depending on small changes in adult and subadult survival. Population sensitivity to adult and subadult survival suggests that limiting and monitoring their mortality are crucial to population and egg harvest sustainability, whereas contemporary government-mandated species management, through Fish and Game New Zealand, allows adult and subadult mortality from sport hunting, with little record of offtake. Recognizing the rights and interests of Ngāi Tahu, and monitoring swan mortality more closely, could improve Ngāi Tahu abilities to practice customary harvest, enhance population and environmental monitoring, and, when appropriate, control swan numbers in a culturally appropriate and less wasteful way. The model we present could aid decision making and communication between Ngāi Tahu and New Zealand's Crown government within a potential future co-management arrangement. Demographic models can be useful tools for supporting customary environmental management, but developing, maintaining, and implementing these tools requires support for adaptive policies and management arrangements that recognize IPLC rights to the environment and decision making.

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Section: Study Species and Populationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A demographic model to support customary management of a culturally important waterfowl species

Herse¹,

Lyver²,

Gormley³

et al. 2022

E&S

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The arrival of Polynesians resulted in the widespread human-driven extinction of around 50% of the vertebrate biodiversity as a result of hunting (Anderson, 1989;Holdaway et al, 2014) and environmental modification (McWethy et al, 2014), in addition to biological turnover events (Rawlence et al, 2017), range-contractions (Salis et al, 2016), population bottlenecks (Rawlence et al, 2015), and significant changes in indigenous forest cover within a few hundred years of initial settlement (McWethy et al, 2014). Polynesians also introduced two exotic predators, the kiore (Pacific rat, Rattus exulans) and kurī (Polynesian dog, Canis familiaris) (Wilmshurst et al, 2008;Greig et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The potential contribution of kurī (Polynesian dog) to the ecological impacts of the human settlement of Aotearoa New Zealand

Greig¹,

Rawlence²

2021

Preprint

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The pre-human Aotearoa New Zealand ecosystem was dominated by avian and reptilian species. Prior to first human settlement by East Polynesian colonists, the top predators were two giant raptorial birds. Aside from humans themselves, colonisation also resulted in the introduction of two novel mammalian predators into this naive ecosystem, the kiore (Pacific rat) and kurī (Polynesian dog). While the ecological impacts of kiore are relatively well understood, those of kurī are difficult to assess, and as such kurī have frequently been disregarded as having any meaningful impact on New Zealand’s biodiversity. Here we use the archaeological and palaeoecological record to reassess the potential impacts of kurī on this ecosystem. We argue that far from being confined to villages, kurī could have had a significant widespread but relatively localised impact on New Zealand’s avian, reptilian and marine mammal (seals and sea lions) fauna as a novel predator of medium-sized species. In this way, kurī potentially amplified the already significant impacts of Polynesian colonists and their descendants on New Zealand’s ecosystem, prior to European arrival. As such, kurī should be included in models of human impact in addition to over-hunting, environmental modification and predation by kiore.

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Native or not? Ancient DNA rejects persistence of New Zealand's endemic black swan: A reply to Montano et al.

Abstract: New Zealand was the world's last major landmass to be colonized by humans (ca. 750 years ago), and the archipelago's naive fauna was subsequently devastated, with at least 58 endemic avian taxa having been driven to extinction over subsequent centuries (Holdaway, Worthy,

Cited by 2 publications

References 14 publications

A demographic model to support customary management of a culturally important waterfowl species

A demographic model to support customary management of a culturally important waterfowl species

The potential contribution of kurī (Polynesian dog) to the ecological impacts of the human settlement of Aotearoa New Zealand

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