Dr Peter Fullagar and Chris Davey - 'Potential impacts of a rodent eradication program on the Lord Howe Island lowland terrestrial avifauna'

Peter and Chris, from Canberra Birds, will describe the extent to which rodent a control program caused a detectable change in abundance of birds on Lord howe Island.  They matched the avian response to rodent removal in terms of the known biology of the species, particularly the Lord Howe Island Woodhen.

In response to a request from the Lord Howe Island Board, spring surveys were conducted on the lowland terrestrial avifauna in the spring of 2013, 2014, 2016 to 2018 prior to the rodent eradication programme that commenced in 2019. A final spring survey was conducted in 2022.

The spring surveys were based on the number of individuals recorded on 96 2 ha plots each surveyed four times during a one-week period. The plots were spatially stratified across the northern and western part of the Lord Howe Island lowlands. The count data were analysed using a generalized linear mixed model with Rodent control, Vegetation type and Time after sunrise as fixed effects and Observer, Plot and Year as random effects.

Of the 15 species recorded across the 96 plots only nine were recorded with sufficient frequency to permit analysis.  Our emphasis here was to assess the extent to which the rodent control programme had caused a detectable change in abundance (were the numbers in 2022 outside the range of abundances recorded across 2013 to 2018) and to match avian response to rodent removal in terms of the known biology of the species. Emphasis was placed on the Lord Howe Island Woodhen to see if this endangered species would show a positive response to rodent removal.

Biography

Dr Peter Fullagar and Chris Davey, both now retired, spent their working careers at CSIRO in Canberra. They have worked together for many years on issues concerning animal ecology and conservation issues. Since retiring they continue to work on projects of shared interest.

Both have been members of Canberra Birds (Canberra Ornithologists Group) for many years and often utilise the expertise of the Group as volunteers for various citizen science projects.

Bookings open 14 March.

Booking link: https://www.trybooking.com/CXZXL