Do introduced mammals chronically impact the breeding success of the world's rarest albatross?

Abstract

Introduced mammals may have deleterious effects on avifauna. We investigated whether such species may be affecting the breeding success of the critically endangered Amsterdam Albatrosses Diomedea amsterdamensis on its remote breeding island. Twelve camera-traps deployed near albatross nests during the chick brooding period in 2011 captured 25,000 pictures. Two of them showed Black Rats Rattus rattus, but without revealing evidence of any direct interaction between the two species. Breeding success in 2011 was similar to that in previous years (60%). Our survey suggests that introduced mammals may not currently represent a primary direct threat to this population, but they might amplify the risks of chick mortality in case of disease outbreaks.