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Mitigating impacts of invasive alien predators on an endangered sea duck amidst high native predation pressure

  • Conservation ecology – original research
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Abstract

Anthropogenically introduced invasive species represent a major threat to global biodiversity by causing population declines and extinctions of native species. The negative impacts of introduced predators are well documented, yet a fundamental knowledge gap exists regarding the efficiency of potential mitigation methods to restore the ecosystem. Other understudied aspects concern prey behavioural antipredator responses and the historical context of native predator–prey interactions, which may moderate invasion impacts on native prey. Invasion impacts of American mink (Neovison vison) and raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) into the Baltic Sea archipelago are poorly understood, and the efficiency of removal efforts as a means to alleviate depredation pressure on native prey is debated. Here, we examine the effectiveness of invasive predator removal on ground-nesting female common eider (Somateria mollissima) mortality, breeding success and breeding propensity over a 9-year period, while controlling for predation risk imposed by the main native predator, the white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla). Our results clearly show that intensified removal of American minks and raccoon dogs decreased the number of female eiders killed during nesting, while improving both nesting success and breeding propensity. Such obvious positive effects of invasive predator removal are particularly noteworthy against the backdrop of a soaring eagle population, indicating that the impacts of invasives may become accentuated when native predators differ taxonomically and by hunting mode. This study shows that invasive alien predator removal is an effective conservation measure clearly aiding native fauna even under severe native predation pressure. Such cost-effective conservation actions call for governmental deployment across large areas.

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The data is available upon request from the lead author.

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Acknowledgements

We thank H. Koskivirta (aided by Gunnar and Rudolf) and R. Remes for teaching KJ the intricacies of invasive predator removal and for implementing the invasive predator removal scheme from its start in 2011. We thank I. Herlin (aided by Kapu) for frequent and valuable help on invasive predator removal. We thank H. Eriksson and S. Neggazi as well as several field assistants over the years for assistance in the field as well as the reviewers of this paper for many improvements. We thank Tvärminne Zoological Station for facilities and for supporting the predator removal scheme over the years and the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry for recent support.

Funding

KJ was funded by a grant from Sophie von Julins Stiftelse (to the Nature and Game Management Trust Finland), IH by The Finnish Foundation for Nature Conservation, Waldemar von Frenckells stiftelse and Nordenskiöld-samfundet, BM by the Åbo Akademi University doctoral network and MÖ by the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland (grants no. 158026, 149014, 138139, 17/3317, 16/1476, 15/3296, 14/2657, 13/2654).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nature and Game Management Trust Finland, Degerbyvägen 176, 10160, Degerby, Finland

    Kim Jaatinen

  2. Environmental and Marine Biology, Åbo Akademi University, Henriksgatan 2, 20500, Turku, Finland

    Ida Hermansson, Bertille Mohring & Markus Öst

  3. Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), UMR 7372 CNRS – Université de La Rochelle, 79360, Villiers-en-Bois, France

    Bertille Mohring

  4. School of Arts and Sciences, Colby-Sawyer College, 541 Main St, New London, NH, 03257, USA

    Benjamin B. Steele

  5. Novia University of Applied Sciences, Raseborgsvägen 9, 10600, Ekenäs, Finland

    Markus Öst

Authors
  1. Kim Jaatinen
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  2. Ida Hermansson
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  5. Markus Öst
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Contributions

KJ and MÖ conceived the idea for this study; KJ conducted and coordinated the IAP removal scheme; KJ, IH, BM, MÖ and BS conducted field work regarding eider breeding; KJ conducted the statistical analyses; KJ, IH, BM, MÖ and BS wrote and commented upon previous versions of the paper.

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Correspondence to Kim Jaatinen.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest or competing interests regarding this paper.

Ethics approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Eider female handling procedures were approved by the Animal Experiment Board at the State Provincial Office of Southern Finland (permit number ESAVI/4053/2018). Female trapping procedures and IAP removal also complied with the specific regulations of the Tvärminne Zoological Station.

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Additional information

Communicated by Michael Sheriff.

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Jaatinen, K., Hermansson, I., Mohring, B. et al. Mitigating impacts of invasive alien predators on an endangered sea duck amidst high native predation pressure. Oecologia 198, 543–552 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-021-05101-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-021-05101-8

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