Learn About Birds (LAB) Conference

Dr Anina Coetzee – Lecturer Nature Conservation – Nelson Mandela University

Bio:

Anina is a lecturer in Nature Conservation at Nelson Mandela University’s George Campus. She completed her PhD in Botany at Stellenbosch University. Thereafter, she conducted a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology at the University of Cape Town. Her research uses bird-pollination systems to explore evolutionary ecology and conservation questions. Her research interests include Fynbos and Forest conservation biology, plant-animal mutualisms, community ecology, and urban ecology.

Plenary Title: Feeding sunbirds in the Cape: prevalence and consequences

Abstract:

Urbanisation causes habitat loss & fragmentation, but also creates novel habitats for birds. Gardens contain natural and artificial food sources for birds, which may alleviate the negative effects that species experience. One such resource is sugar water feeders provided for nectarivorous birds. The effect of feeders on birds, and their mutualistic partners, is little known. The responses of nectarivorous birds in the Cape Floristic Region are particularly important. This region, which broadly spans the Western Cape and east to Gqeberha, contains approximately 300 plant species that depend on sunbirds and sugarbirds for their pollination. Using questionnaires, I determined the prevalence and quality of feeders in this region. I also evaluated the value of feeders in birds’ adjustment to urban areas. We applied an experiment on the Cape Peninsula to test the effect of feeders on bird abundances and bird-pollinated plants’ pollination. Better understanding of the consequences of artificial feeders will be vital for conservation.

Dr Anton Wolfaardt – Mouse-Free Marion Project Manager – Mouse-Free Marion NPC/BirdLife South Africa

Bio:

Anton has worked for close to 30 years in the field of seabird and marine conservation, a journey which started on Marion Island in 1994, where he spent a year working as a seabird field researcher. Anton subsequently spent five years on Dassen Island, off the west coast of South Africa, working initially as a contract researcher and later as the conservation manager of the island. After leaving Dassen Island, Anton worked as a Regional Ecologist for CapeNature, the conservation authority for the Western Cape Province of South Africa.

In 2008, Anton headed to the Falkland Islands to take up the newly created position of ACAP (Agreement on the Conservation of Albatross and Petrels) Co-ordinator for the United Kingdom (UK) South Atlantic Overseas Territories, including the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Tristan da Cunha (including Gough Island) and the UK’s interest in Antarctica.

After returning to South Africa in late 2013, Anton continued to serve as the Co-convenor of ACAP’s Seabird Bycatch Working Group and worked as an environmental consultant focussing on seabird and marine issues, as well as a lecturer and guide on expedition ships visiting the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic regions. In February 2021 Anton was appointed to take up the position of Mouse-Free Marion Project Manager.

Plenary Title: The Mouse-Free Marion Project – making the transition from knowing to doing

Abstract:

Sub-Antarctic Marion Island is an important breeding island for 28 seabird species, including globally significant populations of several threatened species. It is South Africa’s only declared Special Nature Reserve; the strictest level of protection afforded under South African legislation. It is a recognised by BirdLife International as an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area and has been declared a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention. There is a long history of ecological research at Marion Island. Consequently, we have a good understanding of the island’s biodiversity and ecological processes as well as the factors that threaten them. Amongst the greatest threats to the ecology and conservation of Marion Island is the impacts of invasive House Mice. Ongoing increases in mouse densities, linked to the warmer, drier climate have depleted their main invertebrate prey, driving mice to attack albatross and petrel eggs and chicks, and even adult birds. The impacts of mice on Marion Island are widespread, pervasive, extreme and highly deleterious. These impacts are not limited to seabirds. The native invertebrate fauna has been particularly hard hit, with one species of flightless moth apparently extirpated, and other species reduced to tiny proportions of their pre-mouse populations, altering nutrient cycling and other key ecological processes. Mice also impact vegetation, greatly reducing seed production and seriously damaging the keystone cushion plant Azorella selago. The substantial biodiversity and ecological benefits of removing invasive rodents from islands are well recognized, and eradication interventions are now being attempted on increasingly large and more complex islands. The Mouse-Free Marion Project aims to eradicate mice from Marion Island and thereby facilitate the ecological restoration of this globally important site. Marion Island will be the largest island on which the eradication of mice has been attempted in a single operation, and where mice are the only introduced predator. The project is underpinned by research conducted at Marion Island, and elsewhere. In addition to the research, planning for the project must address a wide range of requirements, including financial, logistical, political and legal preparations and stakeholder communications, all of which are vital to create enabling conditions for a successful eradication. In this presentation, Anton will provide an overview of the planning for the project that is aimed at enabling the transition from knowing to doing.