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Insular bird populations can be saved from rats: a long-term experimental study of white-chinned petrels Procellaria aequinoctialis on Ile de la Possession (Crozet archipelago)

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Abstract

The white-chinned petrel is a subantarctic seabird that requires urgent implementation of conservation measures for the species. At sea, adults suffer heavy mortality due to fisheries' practices. On land, introduced rats prey on chicks at several localities, and we test here if and how rats can be efficiently controlled. Since 1994, we have conducted an intensive rat-control program during each breeding season in a white-chinned petrel colony on Ile de la Possession (150 km2; Crozet archipelago, southern Indian Ocean), which had been monitored since 1986. On the same island, a control white-chinned petrel colony, where no poisoning occurred, was also monitored, and we assessed the seasonal variations of rat abundance. We compared three situations: high rat-poisoning, low rat-poisoning and control conditions without poisoning. Low-poisoning trials performed in our experimental colony between 1988 and 1991 did not lead to higher chick production than for the previous two control years. However, petrel-breeding success was significantly higher when intensive poisoning occurred (50%) than for the previous years (16%). The duration of our study (8 years before intensive poisoning, plus 8 years afterwards), combined with a comparison of petrel annual breeding success between our experimental and control colonies, allowed us to assess more effectively the impact of rats. Forty-one per cent of breeding failures occurring in non-poisoned areas were attributed to rats. We conclude that threatened insular bird populations can be conserved and restored in localities even where total rat eradication is not possible. However, only intensive and repeated (long-term) poisoning will control rats sufficiently.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the Institut Polaire Paul-Emile Victor (IPEV) and the Programme "Environnement, Vie et Sociétés" of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Zone-Atelier de Recherches sur l'Environnement Antarctique et Subantarctique). We thank all the fieldworkers involved in long-term studies on Ile de la Possession, J.-M. Salles for providing data on rats, J. Aronson, A.J. Gaston, J.-L. Mougin, K. Oddie and two anonymous referees for their constructive comments on the manuscript, F. Jiguet and M. Gauthier-Clerc for help with the literature.

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Author notes

  1. Joël Bried

    Present address: Centro do IMAR da Universidade dos Açores, Departamento de Oceanografia e Pescas, 9901-862, Horta, Ilha Frial, Açores, Portugal

  2. Thierry Micol

    Present address: T.A.A.F., Rue Gabriel Dejean, 97410, Saint Pierre, La Réunion

Authors and Affiliations

  1. C.N.R.S., C.E.F.E., 1919 route de Mende, , 34293, Montpellier Cedex 5, France

    Pierre Jouventin & Joël Bried

  2. C.N.R.S., C.E.B.C., 7960 , Beauvoir sur Niort, France

    Thierry Micol

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  1. Pierre Jouventin
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  2. Joël Bried
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Correspondence to Pierre Jouventin.

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Jouventin, P., Bried, J. & Micol, T. Insular bird populations can be saved from rats: a long-term experimental study of white-chinned petrels Procellaria aequinoctialis on Ile de la Possession (Crozet archipelago). Polar Biol 26, 371–378 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-003-0497-9

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