title: Drivers of seabird population recovery on New Zealand islands after predator eradication.
abstract: Eradication of introduced mammalian predators from islands has become increasingly common, with over 800 successful projects around the world. Historically, introduced predators extirpated or reduced the size of many seabird populations, changing the dynamics of entire island ecosystems. Although the primary outcome of many eradication projects is the restoration of affected seabird populations, natural population responses are rarely documented and mechanisms are poorly understood. We used a generic model of seabird colony growth to identify key predictor variables relevant to recovery or recolonization. We used generalized linear mixed models to test the importance of these variables in driving seabird population responses after predator eradication on islands around New Zealand. The most influential variable affecting recolonization of seabirds around New Zealand was the distance to a source population, with few cases of recolonization without a source population ≤25 km away. Colony growth was most affected by metapopulation status; there was little colony growth in species with a declining status. These characteristics may facilitate the prioritization of newly predator-free islands for active management. Although we found some evidence documenting natural recovery, generally this topic was understudied. Our results suggest that in order to guide management strategies, more effort should be allocated to monitoring wildlife response after eradication.
authors: Department of Zoology, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand; Centre for Sustainability: Agriculture, Food, Energy, and Environment, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand. r.buxton@mun.ca.
authors: Rachel T
authors: RT
authors: Buxton
authors: Christopher
authors: C
authors: Jones
authors: Henrik
authors: H
authors: Moller
authors: David R
authors: DR
authors: Towns
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000502:physiology*; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D020387:Food Chain; D062312:Islands; D008954:Models, Biological; D009520:New Zealand; D011157:Population Dynamics; D013045:Species Specificity
keywords: aves marinas; dinámica de poblaciones; erradicación de depredadores; population dynamics; predator eradication; recolonización; recolonization; recovery; recuperación; restauración; restoration; seabirds