caa a22 4500 605527245 CHVBK 20210128100807.0 cr unu---uuuuu 210128e20150901xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10531-015-0944-2 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10531-015-0944-2 Application of a non-invasive indexing method for introduced Norway rats ( Rattus norvegicus ) in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska [Elektronische Daten] [Alexander Bond, Cari Eggleston] Island restoration projects that address invasive species issues require measures of invader populations before eradication or control efforts begin, especially for cryptic species such as introduced rodents. To address this need, we tested a non-invasive technique for measuring inter-annual variation in Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) activity at Kiska Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska, during 2005-2010. Snap-trapping could not be used at a large mixed colony of small seabirds (auklets, Aethia spp.) at Sirius Point, Kiska, due to the certainty of bird mortality. Away from the colony site at Kiska Harbour, in June 2005, we used snap-traps to measure capture rates, and found a similar corrected trap index (8.5 captures/100 trap nights) to that recorded pre-eradication at Langara Island, British Columbia (8.2 captures/100 trap nights). At Sirius Point, we determined the most effective rat-monitoring method to be a series transects spanning the auklet colony, with detection stations set at 25m intervals, each including a baited wax block. Rat detections varied nearly 100-fold among years, suggesting high inter-annual variability in the rat population. We found no statistically significant relationship between our rat index and auklet breeding success at Sirius Point with our small sample of years (n=5, 2006-2010). Nevertheless, we believe rat numbers were much lower at Sirius Point during 2006-2010 than observed qualitatively during 2001-2002 when auklets experienced breeding failure. Our rat activity index protocol is likely applicable to other situations in which introduced rodent numbers needs to be monitored while safeguarding native fauna that could be harmed by snap-trapping. Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht, 2015 Rattus norvegicus nationallicence Relative abundance nationallicence Seabird nationallicence Auklet nationallicence Aleutian Islands nationallicence Restoration nationallicence Bond Alexander Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, A1B 3X9, St. John's, NL, Canada aut Eggleston Cari Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, A1B 3X9, St. John's, NL, Canada aut Biodiversity and Conservation Springer Netherlands 24/10(2015-09-01), 2551-2563 0960-3115 24:10<2551 2015 24 10531 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-015-0944-2 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-015-0944-2 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Bond Alexander Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, A1B 3X9, St. John's, NL, Canada aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Eggleston Cari Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, A1B 3X9, St. John's, NL, Canada aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Biodiversity and Conservation Springer Netherlands 24/10(2015-09-01), 2551-2563 0960-3115 24:10<2551 2015 24 10531