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Abstract

The number of Sooty Shearwater, Puffinus griseus, burrow entrances on North East Island of The Snares, New Zealand, declined from 3288000 (95% CI = 3.1-3.5 million) entrances between 1969 and 1971, to 2 061000 (95% CI = 1.9-2.2 million) between 1996 and 2001. This represents a decline of 37% over 27 years, or 1.72% per year (95% CI = 1.35%-2.12%). It is not known whether burrow occupancy has also declined. Possible reasons for decline include fisheries bycatch, climate change, and losses on other islands to predation by introduced mammals and harvest of chicks (muttonbirding). Reliable population estimates of other Sooty Shearwater populations will be important for establishing baseline estimates against which future population trends can be evaluated. If the decline in burrow numbers represents a similar decline in Sooty Shearwater numbers on The Snares and elsewhere, the decline reported here is substantial and enough to warrant listing of the Sooty Shearwater as a "vulnerable" species, according to criterion A3 designated by the International Union for
Conservaion of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) in 2001.

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Scott, D and Scofield, P and Hunter, C and Fletcher, D
Keywords:	Royal Society of Tasmania, RST, Van Diemens Land, natural history, science, ecology, taxonomy, botany, zoology, geology, geography, papers & proceedings, Australia, UTAS Library
Journal or Publication Title:	Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania
ISSN:	0080-4703
DOI / ID Number:	https://doi.org/10.26749/rstpp.142.1.185
Collections:	Royal Society Collection > Papers & Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania
Additional Information:	Copyright Royal Society of Tasmania
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