Advances in Reintroduction Biology of Australian and New Zealand Fauna

Doug P. Armstrong, Matthew W. Hayward, Dorian Moro, Philip J. Seddon, Doug P. Armstrong, Matthew W. Hayward, Dorian Moro, Philip J. Seddon, Doug Armstrong, Matthew Hayward, Dorian Moro, Philip Seddon

• Publisher: CSIRO PUBLISHING
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781486303014
• eBook ISBN: 9781486303038
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Veterinary Medicine
• Index: Biological Sciences

The publication of Reintroduction Biology of Australian and New Zealand Fauna nearly 20 years ago introduced the new science of 'reintroduction biology'. Since then, there have been vast changes in our understanding of the process of reintroductions and other conservation-driven translocations, and corresponding changes in regulatory frameworks governing translocations.

Advances in Reintroduction Biology of Australian and New Zealand Fauna is a timely review of our understanding of translocation from an Australasian perspective, ensuring translocation becomes an increasingly effective conservation management strategy in the future. Written by experts, including reintroduction practitioners, researchers and policy makers, the book includes extensive practical advice and example case studies, identifies emerging themes and suggests future directions.

Conservation practitioners and researchers, as well as conservation management agencies and NGOs will find the book a valuable resource. Although it is based on Australasian examples, it will be of interest globally due to synergies with reintroduction programs throughout the world.

2015 Whitley Awards Certificate of Commendation for Conservation Biology.

1

Introduction: the development of reintroduction biology in New Zealand and Australia

Doug P. Armstrong, Dorian Moro, Matt W. Hayward and Philip J. Seddon

Introduction

The term ‘reintroduction biology’ refers to a relatively new field of research designed to improve an aspect of conservation practice – the intentional movement of organisms from one place to another to conserve species and restore ecosystems. Such actions are collectively called ‘conservation translocations’, and include ‘reintroductions’ (re-establishing a species in part of its historic range), ‘conservation introductions’ (establishing a species outside its historic range for conservation purposes), or ‘reinforcements’ (releasing additional organisms to bolster existing populations) (Seddon 2010; IUCN 2013; Seddon et al. 2014). Although the establishment of species outside their historic ranges is increasingly being considered as a conservation option (Chapter 9), reintroduction will continue to be the main type of conservation translocation performed for the foreseeable future, so the term ‘reintroduction biology’ continues to be appropriate.

History of conservation translocation in New Zealand and Australia

Although reintroduction biology is a new field, conservation translocation has a longer history. In New Zealand, the first recognised conservation translocations were Richard Henry’s efforts from 1895 to 1907 to establish three species of declining flightless birds on islands free of mammalian predators in Fiordland (Miskelly and Powlesland 2013; Chapter 9). In Australia, the first recognised conservation translocations also occurred in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when declining marsupials were translocated to islands off Victoria and South Australia (Copley 1995; Short 2009). Translocations were also conducted for many other reasons since the arrival of humans, including those by Maori and Aboriginal people, as well as the later raft of translocations after European colonisation (Chapter 19). However, there is no indication that these earlier translocations were done for conservation reasons (Chapter 19).

Translocation started to become a major conservation strategy in the 1960s in New Zealand and 1970s in Australia, and the number conducted has increased in each subsequent decade (Chapter 19). There are more than 1000 documented conservation translocations of New Zealand fauna (McHalick 1998; Sherley et al. 2010; Miskelly and Powlesland 2013; http://www.reintroductions.net) and more than 350 of Australian fauna (Copley 1995; Short 2009). The majority of these have involved birds in New Zealand and marsupials in Australia, but increasingly translocations have involved a wide range of vertebrate groups including rodents, lizards, tuatara, frogs and fish, and a wide range of invertebrate and plant species (see previous references plus Chapter 14). Translocations are also conducted in a wide range of ecosystems, by a wide range of people, and for many different reasons (Chapters 14 and 19). The impact of exotic mammalian predators has been a major motivation of translocation programs in both New Zealand and Australia, with many threatened species introduced to uninvaded sites (‘assisted colonisation’; Chapter 9) or reintroduced following predator eradication or control (Chapter 14). This has particularly been the case for translocations involving terrestrial vertebrates. Many of these translocations have been spectacular success stories, such as those resulting in the South Island saddleback (Philesturnus carunculatus) being saved from extinction following the invasion of its last habitat by ship rats (Rattus rattus) in the 1960s (Jones and Merton 2012). Exotic mammals have also caused many translocations to fail. For example, in New Zealand, the populations established by Richard Henry were ultimately exterminated by stoats (Mustela erminea) that later colonised the islands. In addition, translocation efforts from 1960 to 1990 were dominated by mainland reintroductions of weka (Gallirallus australis) and brown teal (Anas chlorotis) that failed due to predation by several exotic mammals (Miskelly and Powlesland 2013). Similarly, in Australia, predation by introduced feral cats (Felis catus) or red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) has been the primary cause of failure in ~80% of translocations, particularly so for predator-naive marsupials (Short 2009).

Development of reintroduction biology

By the late 1980s, it had become clear that most reintroduction projects throughout the world were poorly conceived, poorly monitored and, particularly for threatened species, had poor success (Griffith et al. 1989). This situation led to the IUCN’s (1987) release of a position statement on translocation of living organisms and the formation of IUCN Reintroduction Specialist Group (RSG) in 1988. The RSG subsequently produced a range of products for reintroduction practitioners, including the IUCN guidelines for reintroductions (IUCN 1998), and facilitated development of practitioner networks such as the Oceania Section of the RSG (http://www.reintroductions.net). The RSG emphasised the need for reintroduction practitioners to carefully consider the rationale behind proposed projects, to meticulously plan the projects if they were deemed feasible, and to monitor the results. Related papers also began appearing in the scientific literature, mainly emphasising the poor rate of success of reintroduction projects and the need for monitoring (Campbell and Wilcox 1980; Lyles and May 1987; Scott and Carpenter 1987; Griffith et al. 1989; Kleiman 1989; Dodd and Seigel 1991).

Although the need for a science of reintroduction biology was first highlighted in the 1980s, the benefits of a scientific approach are apparent in earlier projects. In particular, the rescue of the Chatham Island black robin (Petroica traversi) in the 1970s was characterised by careful consideration of alternative hypotheses and innovative trials despite the species being reduced to only a handful of individuals with a single female (Butler and Merton 1992; Jones and Merton 2012). This project belies the common belief that science is inapplicable to projects involving highly endangered species, and in fact emphasises that these are the situations where considered planning is essential and trial-and-error inappropriate. A similarly careful approach is evident in some early international projects, including the reintroduction of bison (Bison bison) to Oklahoma in 1907 (Kleiman 1989). Nevertheless, there were few scientific publications about reintroduction or other conservation translocations until the 1990s.

The conference ‘Reintroduction biology of Australasian fauna’ in April 1993 was a watershed event for reintroduction biology, both in our region and internationally. In fact, the conference title was the first use of the term ‘reintroduction biology’, which first appeared in the scientific literature later that year in a paper presented at the conference (Viggers et al. 1993). The conference was held at Healesville Sanctuary in Victoria, and organised by Melody Serena of the Australian Platypus Conservancy. It brought together a range of practitioners and researchers working on reintroduction projects involving a range of fauna, including birds, mammals, lizards, frogs, fish and invertebrates. The resulting book (Serena 1995) therefore provided information on a broad set of case studies, greatly improving the documentation of reintroduction projects in the region. More importantly, the book included cutting-edge research methods and bold ideas with broad application to reintroduction programs. This included research on GIS-based site selection, modelling of translocation strategies, experimental design, genetic management and anti-predator training, all of which continue to be important topics in reintroduction biology.

The discipline of reintroduction biology has grown dramatically over the subsequent 20 years, with an approximately exponential increase in the publication rate over time (Seddon et al. 2007). In addition to the journal literature, there have been books published on reintroduction of top-order carnivores (Hayward and Somers 2009) and plants (Maschinski and Haskins 2012), and on the integration of science and management in reintroduction (Ewen et al. 2012). The science has also developed, with the literature now being less dominated by descriptive case studies of individual projects. Descriptive documentation of translocation projects will always have an important role, and the infrequent publication of such documentation has slowed advancement of reintroduction practice (Chapters 14, 16 and 17); consequently, the RSG is now regularly publishes volumes of case studies (Soorae 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013). However, there is increasing emphasis on targeting key questions broadly relevant to reintroduction programs (Armstrong and Seddon 2008) and use of more powerful methodologies including experimentation, quantitative modelling and meta-analysis (Seddon et al. 2007; Sarrazin 2007; Ewen et al. 2012; Converse et al. 2013; Seddon et al. 2014). These advancements have led to increased sophistication in planning and implementing of projects, as reflected in the IUCN’s 2013 Guidelines for Reintroductions and other Conservation Translocations (IUCN 2013) which replaced the 1998 guidelines.

Research from Australia and New Zealand has made a substantial contribution to this growing literature (Seddon et al. 2007; Ewen et al. 2012; Sheean et al. 2012). It is therefore timely to assess advancements in our region over the last 20 years. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Healesville conference, a symposium on ‘Advances in Australasian Reintroduction Biology 1993–2013’ was held from 20 to 22 November 2013 at Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand. The aim of the symposium, which was part of the annual Australasian Wildlife Management Society conference, was to showcase reintroduction biology in New Zealand and Australia, evaluate progress over the last 20 years and set future directions. There were 41 presenters from 24 different institutions, including government conservation agencies, NGOs, zoos, private companies and universities. There was a good mix of youth and experience, allowing experienced perspectives to be combined with fresh ideas and innovation.

Structure and content of this volume

Although this volume is associated with the 2013 symposium, it is not a set of symposium papers. Instead, a set of possible chapter topics was proposed before the symposium, and these were then modified based on material presented at the symposium and further discussion among the practitioners. We have deliberately avoided having chapters focusing on individual case studies. We have instead tried to identify themes of general relevance to reintroduction, using case studies as examples presented as boxed texts. Although there is an inevitable vertebrate bias, because of the association with a wildlife management conference, we have not generally structured the information presented on taxonomic grounds, instead believing that most of the material is transferrable to a wide range of taxa. The exceptions are the chapter on fish reintroduction (Chapter 17), which we felt warranted special treatment due to the different challenges raised by fish in relation to terrestrial wildlife, and the chapter on translocation planning and implementation (Chapter 18), where techniques associated with six different taxa are presented as boxed texts.

Chapters 2–13 are organised according to timeframes and levels of biological organisation, following Armstrong and Seddon’s (2008) framework for categorising key questions in reintroduction biology (Fig. 1.1). Chapters 2 and 3 specifically deal with strategies at the release phase of reintroduction projects, so primarily focus on population establishment, but also consider the impact on source populations. The subsequent chapters on prey naivety (Chapter 4), disease management (Chapter 5) and dispersal (Chapter 6) are also strongly focused on issues at the release and post-release phases, although they also touch on issues relevant to longer term population persistence and ecosystem health. Chapter 7, on...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of contributors
• 1 Introduction: the development of reintroduction biology in New Zealand and Australia
• 2 Release strategies for fauna reintroductions: theory and tests
• 3 Structured decision making for designing complex release strategies
• 4 The influence of predators and prey naivety on reintroduction success: current and future directions
• 5 Disease risk management in reintroduction
• 6 Considering dispersal in reintroduction and restoration planning
• 7 The roles of trials and experiments in fauna reintroduction programs
• 8 Advances in modelling projections for reintroduced populations
• 9 Proactive conservation or planned invasion? Past, current and future use of assisted colonisation
• 10 Conserving and enhancing genetic diversity in translocation programs
• 11 Metapopulation management of an extreme disease scenario
• 12 Using reintroduction to compensate for isolation in fragmented landscapes
• 13 Policy implications of ecosystem engineering for multiple ecosystem benefits
• 14 The impact of private sanctuary networks on reintroduction programs
• 15 Advances in the contribution of zoos to reintroduction programs
• 16 Forty years of fauna translocations in Western Australia: lessons learned
• 17 Underwater, out of sight: lessons from threatened freshwater fish translocations in Australia
• 18 Practical guidelines for planning and implementing fauna translocations
• 19 Evolution of the translocation approval process in Australia and New Zealand
• 20 Reintroduction biology of Australian and New Zealand fauna: progress, emerging themes and future directions
• Index