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Predator reduction with habitat management can improve songbird nest success

2014; Wiley; Volume: 78; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/jwmg.687

1937-2817

Patrick J.C. White, Chris Stoate, John Szczur, Ken Norris,

Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior

The Journal of Wildlife ManagementVolume 78, Issue 3 p. 402-412 Research Article Predator reduction with habitat management can improve songbird nest success Patrick J. C. White, Corresponding Author Patrick J. C. White orcid.org/0000-0002-5084-942X Upland Research Group, Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, Drumochter Lodge, Dalwhinnie, Inverness-shire, PH19 1AF UKE-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorChris Stoate, Chris Stoate Allerton Project, Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, Loddington House, Loddington, Leics, LE7 9XE UKSearch for more papers by this authorJohn Szczur, John Szczur Allerton Project, Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, Loddington House, Loddington, Leics, LE7 9XE UKSearch for more papers by this authorKen Norris, Ken Norris Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy & Development, University of Reading, Earley Gate, PO Box 237, Reading, RG6 6AR UKSearch for more papers by this author Patrick J. C. White, Corresponding Author Patrick J. C. White orcid.org/0000-0002-5084-942X Upland Research Group, Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, Drumochter Lodge, Dalwhinnie, Inverness-shire, PH19 1AF UKE-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorChris Stoate, Chris Stoate Allerton Project, Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, Loddington House, Loddington, Leics, LE7 9XE UKSearch for more papers by this authorJohn Szczur, John Szczur Allerton Project, Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, Loddington House, Loddington, Leics, LE7 9XE UKSearch for more papers by this authorKen Norris, Ken Norris Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, School of Agriculture, Policy & Development, University of Reading, Earley Gate, PO Box 237, Reading, RG6 6AR UKSearch for more papers by this author First published: 12 March 2014 https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.687Citations: 13 Associate Editor: Heather Mathewson. Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL ABSTRACT Predation pressure on many threatened species, including European farmland songbirds, may have increased over recent decades. Predator reduction to protect declining bird populations is a controversial but potentially important tool for managers. Its effects require measurement before its consideration in conservation. Game management typically combines sympathetic habitat management measures with reduction of nest predators. It has been proffered as additionally benefiting farmland songbirds, but little is known about the effects on their demography. We analyzed 11 years of nest data from 6 songbird species on 3 lowland farms. The different game management regimes on the farms enabled us to test the hypotheses that systematic predator reduction (mammals and corvids) and sporadic corvid reduction improve nest success in songbirds. We detected a positive effect of systematic predator reduction on common blackbird (Turdus merula), common chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs), dunnock (Prunella modularis), song thrush (T. philomelos), and yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) but not common whitethroat (Sylvia communis). For the 5 species that demonstrated an effect, systematic predator reduction improved the odds of nests surviving a day within the nest cycle by a factor of between 1.59 and 1.89. For common blackbird, the effect occurred at the egg (laying and incubation) stage of the nest cycle, whereas for other species it occurred across stages. Sporadic corvid reduction had a positive effect on nest survival only for common blackbird (at the nestling stage only) and a negative effect only for yellowhammer (across both stages). The extent to which predator reduction might influence populations may depend on mechanisms such as re-nesting compensation and overwinter mortality. Where habitat management is in place to assist threatened songbirds, intensive, systematic nest predator reduction may provide a useful conservation tool for improvement of nest success. © 2014 The Wildlife Society. LITERATURE CITED Aebischer, N. J. 1999. Multi-way comparisons and generalized linear models of nest success: extensions of the Mayfield method. Bird Study 46: S22– S31. Aebischer, N. J., A. D. Evans, P. V. Grice, and J. A. Vickery. 1999. Ecology and conservation of lowland farmland birds. 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