The use of predator-exclusion fencing as a management tool improves the breeding success of waders on lowland wet grassland

Malpas, Lucy R.; Kennerley, Rosalind J.; Hirons, G. J. M.; Sheldon, Rob D.; Ausden, Malcolm; Gilbert, Joanne C.; Smart, Jennifer

doi:10.1016/j.jnc.2012.09.002

Cited by 65 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…An increase in predator densities is often suggested as one of the key causes of decreasing reproductive success of meadow‐breeding birds in Europe (Malpas et al . , Roodbergen et al . ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Management of modern agricultural landscapes increases nest predation rates in Black‐tailed Godwits Limosa limosa

Kentie

Both

Hooijmeijer

et al. 2015

Ibis

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Effective conservation of endangered species requires a solid understanding of the demographic causes of population change. Bird populations breeding on agricultural grasslands have declined because their preferred habitat of herb‐rich meadows has been replaced by grassland monocultures. The timing of agricultural activities in these monocultural grasslands is critical, as they often coincide with the nesting phase of breeding birds. Here, we aim to identify the effect of habitat management and targeted nest protection on nest survival of Black‐tailed Godwits Limosa limosa in the Netherlands, a population that has shown a 70% reduction in breeding population size since the 1970s. To protect nests in monocultures from destruction, farmers are paid to either delay mowing or leave a patch of unmown grass around the nest, a patch which in practice varied in size. In herb‐rich meadows, which are typically managed for bird conservation purposes, mowing occurs after hatching. Nest survival declined as the season advanced, more steeply on monocultures than on meadows. Targeted nest protection was only partially successful, as nest predation was considerably higher on mown grassland monocultures with small unmown patches around the nest than in mown monocultures with large unmown patches and in unmown fields. Increased predator densities over the years have been suggested as an important cause of the trend towards lower nest survival, but here we show that nest survival was higher on herb‐rich meadows than on monocultures, and similar to the 1980s. It thus seems that increased predator densities are an increased threat during the egg stage only if habitat quality is low. High‐quality habitat in the form of herb‐rich meadows therefore provides a degree of protection against predators.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Management of modern agricultural landscapes increases nest predation rates in Black‐tailed Godwits Limosa limosa

Kentie

Both

Hooijmeijer

et al. 2015

Ibis

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“…, Malpas et al . ). The impact of Foxes on lowland wet grassland is perhaps unsurprising given the ‘honeypot’ nature of these sites for generalist predators (Seymour et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…, Malpas et al . ). Given the relationship we found between the proportions of chicks predated by Foxes and raptors and their respective activity (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…, Malpas et al . ). A possible explanation for these different results is that the likelihood of finding prey remains is dependent on the cause of mortality (Schaub ) as well as the search intensity, potentially biasing tracking studies towards bird‐predated remains, which may be easier to find (e.g., plucked close to the predation site or high up in a nest or plucking post where there are no impediments to tag signals).…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

“…, Malpas et al . ), suggesting that chick survival may be the more important demographic parameter (Sharpe et al . ).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Tracking day and night provides insights into the relative importance of different wader chick predators

Mason

Drewitt

2017

Ibis

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Poor reproductive success driven by nest and chick predation severely limits the population recovery of waders breeding on lowland wet grassland. Managing predation requires knowledge of the predators and because these can be grouped into nocturnal or diurnal hunters, detecting the timing of predation can help assess their relative impacts. Wader nest studies investigating the timing of egg predation have identified nocturnal mammals, primarily Red Foxes Vulpes vulpes, as the most important nest predators, but quantifying predator importance for highly mobile wader chicks is more difficult. Manual radiotelemetry can detect whether chicks are alive but cannot detect the time of predation, and predator identity can be determined only in the few cases where remains are recovered. As an alternative we used automatic radio tracking stations (ARTS) to constantly record the signals and predation timing of 179 radiotagged Lapwing Vanellus vanellus chicks, combining this with manual telemetry, inference about predator identity from predated remains and site-level Fox, mustelid and avian predator activity monitoring. This approach succeeded in detecting the time of predation for 60% of the 155 chicks that were predated. Diurnal chick predation accounted for a larger number of predation events, but nocturnal predation was more intensive in terms of predation likelihood per hour. Mammalian predation during both day and night had a larger impact on chick survival than did avian predation. Raptors were primarily responsible for predation by birds and Foxes for predation by mammals, with Foxes also having a larger influence on daily chick predation rates than other predators. Chick predation increased seasonally, implying that earlier-hatching breeding attempts are more likely to be successful. Higher Fox, raptor and mustelid activity resulted in higher proportions of chicks being predated by those predators, so quantifying the activity of those three predator groups on a site could be a quicker alternative to studying chicks when investigating which predator species to target with site-specific predation management.

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Effectively integrating experiments into conservation practice

Ockendon

Amano

Cadotte

et al. 2021

Ecol Sol and Evidence

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1. Making effective decisions in conservation requires a broad and robust evidence base describing the likely outcomes of potential actions to draw on. Such evidence is typically generated from experiments or trials that evaluate the effectiveness of actions, but for many actions evidence is missing or incomplete. 2. We discuss how evidence can be generated by incorporating experiments into conservation practice. This is likely to be most efficient if opportunities for carrying out informative, well-designed experiments are identified at an early stage during conservation management planning.3. We consider how to navigate a way between the stringent requirements of statistical textbooks and the complexities of carrying out ecological experiments in the real world by considering practical approaches to the key issues of replication, controls and randomization. 4. We suggest that routinely sharing the results of experiments could increase both the value for money and effectiveness of conservation practice.5. We argue that with early planning and a small additional input of effort, important new learning can be gained during the implementation of many conservation actions.

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The use of predator-exclusion fencing as a management tool improves the breeding success of waders on lowland wet grassland

Cited by 65 publications

References 52 publications

Management of modern agricultural landscapes increases nest predation rates in Black‐tailed Godwits Limosa limosa

Management of modern agricultural landscapes increases nest predation rates in Black‐tailed Godwits Limosa limosa

Tracking day and night provides insights into the relative importance of different wader chick predators

Effectively integrating experiments into conservation practice

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