Idle Jessica L, Wilhite Chad J, Harmon Kristen C, Friswold Brooke, Price Melissa R
Natural Resources and Environmental Management, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, Hawai'i, United States of America.
PeerJ. 2021 Aug 30;9:e12096. doi: 10.7717/peerj.12096. eCollection 2021.
Many seabird populations are declining globally, but successful conservation efforts have led to population expansion of some species into human-dominated landscapes. Thus, there is an increased potential for direct human and seabird interactions for certain species in human-occupied areas, with nest-site characteristics potentially affecting the susceptibility of nests to human disturbance. We assessed the effect of human activity and nest-site characteristics on Wedge-tailed Shearwater ( '') nesting success at two breeding colonies, one with human exposure and one without, located in Kailua, O'ahu, Hawai'i. Human activity was measured by recording the frequency of people who entered a 5 m buffer around each nest. Nests were checked every two to three days to monitor nest success. The effect of human activity and nest-site characteristics on nesting success was determined using a variety of combinations of variables within binomial logistic regression models and AICc model selection. Nest-site characteristics among nests at both sites and human activity at the human-exposed site did not show a significant effect on nesting success. Our results suggest Wedge-tailed Shearwaters may experience some tolerance of human activity immediately around their nests-as long as burrow collapse does not occur. Given the small sample sizes and a single season of data collection, additional studies are needed to better understand the effect of human disturbance on Wedge-tailed Shearwaters. Infrastructure, such as fencing and signage, may be effective at reducing human-caused nest failure and may allow humans and disturbance-tolerant seabird species to coexist in shared coastal environments.
全球许多海鸟种群数量都在下降，但成功的保护措施已使一些物种的种群数量得以扩张，并进入了人类主导的景观区域。因此，在人类居住区域，某些物种与人类直接互动的可能性增加，巢穴地点特征可能会影响巢穴对人类干扰的敏感度。我们评估了人类活动和巢穴地点特征对楔尾鹱（）在夏威夷欧胡岛凯卢阿的两个繁殖地筑巢成功率的影响，其中一个繁殖地有人类活动影响，另一个没有。通过记录进入每个巢穴周围5米缓冲区的人员频率来衡量人类活动。每两到三天检查一次巢穴，以监测筑巢成功率。在二项逻辑回归模型和AICc模型选择中，使用各种变量组合来确定人类活动和巢穴地点特征对筑巢成功率的影响。两个地点巢穴的巢穴地点特征以及受人类活动影响地点的人类活动对筑巢成功率均未显示出显著影响。我们的研究结果表明，只要不发生洞穴坍塌，楔尾鹱可能会对其巢穴周围的人类活动有一定的耐受性。鉴于样本量较小且仅收集了一个季节的数据，需要开展更多研究以更好地了解人类干扰对楔尾鹱的影响。诸如围栏和标识等基础设施可能有效地减少人类导致的巢穴失败，并可能使人类与耐干扰的海鸟物种在共享的沿海环境中共存。
