Register      Login
Wildlife Research Wildlife Research Society
Ecology, management and conservation in natural and modified habitats
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > WR > WR08022 > Fulltext
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 36(3)

Removal of American mink increases the success of simulated nests in linear habitat

Eliška Padyšáková A F , Martin Šálek A B , Lukáš Poledník C , František Sedláček A B and Tomáš Albrecht D E
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, CZ-370 01 České Budějovice, Czech Republic.

B Institute of Systems Biology and Ecology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, CZ-370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic.

C ALKA Wildlife, Lidéřovice 62, CZ-380 01 Dačice, Czech Republic.

D Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Kvetna 8, CZ-603 65 Brno, Czech Republic.

E Department of Zoology, Faculty of Sciences, Charles University, CZ-128 44 Prague, Czech Republic.

F Corresponding author. Email: paddysek@centrum.cz

Wildlife Research 36(3) 225-230 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR08022
Submitted: 6 February 2008  Accepted: 8 February 2009   Published: 15 April 2009

Abstract

Alien species of predators may negatively influence the breeding success of waterfowl. Previous studies have tested whether predator removal causes an increase in nest success and breeding densities; however, conclusions have been contradictory. Here we examine the impact of the removal of introduced American mink, Mustela vison, on the survival of simulated waterfowl nests in two treatment and two control transects, in a linear section of habitat along the Jihlava River, Czech Republic. Nest survival was recorded during two periods (June and July), with minks removed after the first replicate. In total, eight minks were removed from treatment transects. Whereas nest survival in control transects slightly decreased from June to July, the opposite trend, i.e. an increase in nest survival, was apparent in the treatment transects. On the basis of the results, we suggest that a local reduction in mink populations is an effective short-term tool for the conservation of protected waterfowl species. Our study adds to others, reporting potentially adverse effects of alien, introduced, carnivorous species on local biota.


Acknowledgements

We thank Aleš Toman and Štěpán Zápotočný for invaluable help with mink removal. We thank Dr Andrea Taylor, Associate Editor of Wildlife Research, Karel Weidinger and three unknown referees for inspiring observations. This study was financed by the Agency for Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection of the Czech Republic (Project VaV/620/1/03) and the Czech Ministry of Education (Project MSMT6007665801). TA was partially supported by the Research Centrum Project No. LC06073, VaV project SP-2d3-60-08 and the Czech Ministry of Education projects 0021620828 and AV0Z60930519. We declare that the experiments comply with the current laws of the Czech Republic.


References

Aebischer, N. J. (1999). Multi-way comparisons and generalized linear models of nest success: extensions of the Mayfield method. Bird Study 46, 22–31.
Anděra M. , and Hanzal V. (1996). ‘Atlas of Distribution of Mammals in the Czech Republic. II. Carnivora.’ (National Museum: Prague.) [In Czech]

Balser, D. S. , Dill, H. H. , and Nelson, H. K. (1968). Effect of predator reduction on waterfowl nesting success. Journal of Wildlife Management 32, 669–682.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Červený J. , Kramler J. , Kholová H. , Koubek P. , and Martínková N. (2003). ‘Encyclopedia of Hunting.’ (Otto’s Press: Cesty, Prague.) [In Czech]

Côté, I. M. , and Sutherland, W. J. (1997). The effectiveness of removing predators to protect bird populations. Conservation Biology 11, 395–405.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Dunstone N. (1993). ‘The Mink.’ (Poyser Natural Society: London.)

Estrada, A. , Rivera, A. , and Coates-Estrada, R. (2002). Predation on artificial nests in a fragmented landscape in the tropical region of Los Tuxtlas, Mexico. Biological Conservation 106, 199–209.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Fischer D. (2001). Report on population of crayfish (Austropotamobius torrentium) in the Pribram County. [In Czech]

Fischer, D. , Pavluvčík, P. , Sedláček, F. , and Šálek, M. (2009). Predation of the alien American mink Mustela vison on native crayfish populations in middle-sized streams in central and western Bohemia. Folia Zoologica ,in press.
Forman K. J. (1990). Influence of skunk removal on nest success and breeding populations of upland-nesting ducks in the lower Flathead Valley Montana. Thesis, University of Montana, Missoula, MT.

Garrettson, P. R. , and Rohwer, F. C. (2001). Effect of mammalian predator removal on production of upland-nesting ducks in North Dakota. Journal of Wildlife Management 65, 398–405.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Hall N. E. (1994). Effects of striped skunk removal on duck nest success in the Mission Valley, Montana. Thesis, University of Montana, Missoula, MT.

Haskell, D. G. (1995). A reevaluation of the effects of forest fragmentation on rates of bird-nest predation. Conservation Biology 9, 1316–1318.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Newton I. (1998). ‘Population Limitation in Birds.’ (Academic Press: New York.)

Nordström, M. , and Korpimäki, E. (2004). Effects of island isolation and feral mink removal on bird communities on small islands in the Baltic Sea. Journal of Animal Ecology 73, 424–433.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Poledník L. , and Poledníková K. (2005). Ecology of the American mink (Mustela vison) and its management – final report for the Agency for Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection of the Czech Republic (ANCLP), Prague. [In Czech]

Ricklefs, R. (1969). An analysis of nesting mortality in birds. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 9, 1–48.
Šálek M. , Poledník L. , Beran V. , and Sedláček F. (2005). The home ranges, movements and activity pattern of the American mink in the Czech Republic. In ‘Abstracts of IX International Mammalogical Congress’, Sapporo, Japan. pp. 215–216. Organised by the Science Council of Japan and The Mammalogical Society of Japan, www.imc3.jp.

Salo, P. , Korpimäki, E. , Banks, P. B. , Nordström, M. , and Dickman, C. R. (2007). Alien predators are more dangerous than native predators to prey populations. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences 274, 1237–1243.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | Sargeant A. B. , and Raveling D. G. (1992). Mortality during the breeding season. In ‘Ecology and Management of Breeding Waterfowl’. (Eds B. D. J. Batt, A. D. Afton, M. G. Andersson, C. D. Ankney, D. H. Johnson, J. A. Kadlec and G. L. Krapu.) pp. 396–492. (University of Minnesota Press: Minneapolis, MN.)

Sidorovich, V. E. (1993). Reproductive plasticity of the American mink, Mustela vison, in Belarus. Acta Theriologica 38, 175–183.


Sidorovich, V. , and Macdonald, D. (2001). Density dynamics and changes in habitat use by the European mink and other native mustelids in connection with the American mink expansion in Belarus. Netherlands Journal of Zoology 51, 107–126.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Sovada, M. A. , Sargeant, A. B. , and Grier, J. W. (1995). Differential effects of coyotes and red foxes on duck nest success. Journal of Wildlife Management 59, 1–9.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Svobodová, J. , Albrecht, T. , and Šálek, M. (2004). The relationship between predation risk and occurrence of black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) in a highly fragmented ladnscape: an experiment based on artificial nests. Ecoscience 11, 421–427.


VanderHaegen, W. M. , and DeGraaf, R. M. (1996). Predation on artificial nests in forested riparian buffer strips. Journal of Wildlife Management 60, 542–550.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |

Weidinger, K. (2003). Nest success – definition, estimate and analysis. Sylvia 39, 1–24.[In Czech]