• IMAS Metadata Catalogue
  •  
  •  
  •  

Data and code for: Decadal change in seabird-driven isotopes on islands with differing invasion histories

Invasive mammal eradications are commonplace in island conservation. However, post-eradication monitoring beyond the confirmation of target species removal is rarer. Seabirds are ecosystem engineers on islands and are negatively affected by invasive mammals. Following an invasive mammal eradication, the recovery of seabird populations can be necessary for wider ecosystem recovery. Seabirds fertilise islands with isotopically heavy nitrogen, which means nitrogen stable isotope analysis (δ15N) could provide a useful means for assessing corresponding change in ecosystem function. We quantified decadal changes in δ15N on eight temperate New Zealand islands subject in pairs to distinct mammal invasion and seabird restoration histories: invaded, never-invaded, invader-eradicated and undergoing active seabird restoration. First, we investigated long-term changes in δ15N values on individual islands. Second, we used a space for time analysis to determine if δ15N levels on islands from which invaders had been removed eventually recovered to values typical of never-invaded islands. On each island soil, plants (Coprosma repens, C. robust and Myrsine australis) and spiders (Porrhothelidae) were sampled in 2006/07 and 2022 allowing δ15N change on individual islands over 16 years to be assessed. Combined, the samples from invader-eradicated islands provided a 7 – 32 year post-eradication dataset. Change in δ15N was only detected on one island across the study period, following the unexpected recolonisation of seabirds to an invaded island. Invader-eradicated islands generally had higher δ15N values than invaded islands however, they were still lower than never-invaded islands and there was no trend in δ15N with time since eradication. This, and the measurable increase in δ15N following seabird recolonisation on one island, may suggest that δ15N change occurs rapidly following invader-eradication, but then slows, with δ15N values staying relatively constant in the time period studied here. Isotope and seabird population studies need to be coupled to ascertain if plateauing in δ15N reflects a slowing of seabird population growth and subsequent basal nutrient input, or if the baseline nutrients are entering the ecosystem but then not propagating up the food web.

Simple

Identification info

Date (Publication)
2024-08-27T00:00:00

Resource provider

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies
Private Bag 129
Hobart
Tasmania
7001
Australia

Principal investigator

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies - Pascoe, Penelope
University of Tasmania
ROR ID >

ORCID >

Collaborator

Northern Illinois University - Jones, Holly
ROR ID >

ORCID >

Status
Completed

Point of contact

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies - Pascoe, Penelope
University of Tasmania
Tasmania
Australia
ROR ID >

ORCID >

Topic category
  • Biota

Extent

N
S
E
W


Temporal extent

Time period
2006-10-01 2022-04-30
Maintenance and update frequency
Not planned
Keywords (Theme)
  • seabirds
  • Marlborough Sounds
Global Change Master Directory Earth Science Keywords, Version 8.5
  • EARTH SCIENCE | BIOSPHERE | ECOSYSTEMS | TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS | ISLANDS
  • EARTH SCIENCE | BIOSPHERE | ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS | COMMUNITY DYNAMICS | INVASIVE SPECIES
  • EARTH SCIENCE | CLIMATE INDICATORS | PALEOCLIMATE INDICATORS | ICE CORE RECORDS | ISOTOPES | NITROGEN ISOTOPES
  • EARTH SCIENCE | CLIMATE INDICATORS | PALEOCLIMATE INDICATORS | BIOLOGICAL RECORDS | TREE RINGS | ISOTOPIC ANALYSIS
AODN Geographic Extents Vocabulary
  • Countries | Countries | New Zealand

Resource constraints

Use limitation
Data, products and services from IMAS are provided "as is" without any warranty as to fitness for a particular purpose.
Use limitation
Please contact the authors prior to use

Resource constraints

Other constraints
This dataset is the intellectual property of the University of Tasmania (UTAS) through the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS).

Resource constraints

Linkage
https://licensebuttons.net/l/by/4.0/88x31.png

License Graphic

Title
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Alternate title
CC-BY
Edition
4.0


>

Website
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

License Text

Other constraints
Cite data as: Pascoe, P., & Jones, H. (2024). Data and code for: Decadal change in seabird-driven isotopes on islands with differing invasion histories [Data set]. Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies. https://doi.org/10.25959/VDN6-R115
Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8

Content Information

Content type
Physical measurement

Distribution Information

Distribution format
  • CSV, Rmd

OnLine resource
DATA ACCESS - browse and download data files and R-Markdown

Resource lineage

Statement
We selected eight geographically proximate and environmentally similar islands in Cook Strait, New Zealand to investigate long-term changes in nitrogen stable isotopes levels across islands with different restoration treatments: never-invaded islands - Takapourewa/Stephens and Kuru Pongi/ Middle Trio, invaded islands - Moutiti/Victory and Tawhitinui, eradicated islands - Wakaterepapanui and Nukuwaiata, and actively seabird restored islands - Te Hoiere/Maud and Mana. Each island was originally sampled for a stable isotope study in 2006/07 by Jones (2010b) and we re-visited each island in 2022 for this study. Soil, plant (taupata - Coprosma repens, karamu - C. robusta, and māpou - Myrsine australis) and spider (family Porrhothelidae) samples were collected from inside and outside seabird colonies (no burrows found within a 3m radius of the sampling location) at between 9 and 47 sampling locations on each island. At each sampling location soil and as many of the three plant species as were present were collected. Plants were sampled by picking three new growth leaves from separate individuals of the same species, if available. Soil was sampled by scraping back the litter layer and collecting approximately 100 g using a small hand trowel down to 10 cm depth. Up to three spiders were collected from inside and three from outside seabird colonies opportunistically on each island (because spider tunnels were not always present in each sampling locale) by digging up their tunnels. On each island with a seabird colony, we also collected three seabird guano samples. Spider samples were stored in 70% ethanol for transportation off the island. All samples were then washed in distilled water and oven dried at 60°C for 48 hours to prevent decomposition and in preparation for stable isotope analysis. Dried soil samples were passed through a 0.5 mm sieve, then all samples were hand ground to a fine powder using a mortar and pestle. Stable isotope analysis was conducted using an Elemental Combustion System (ECS 4010, Costech Instruments) coupled to the Delta Plus Advantage IRMS (Thermo Fisher Scientific) mass spectrometer at Northern Illinois University using USGS-25 and IAEA-N1 international standards.
Hierarchy level
Dataset
Hierarchy level
Dataset

Metadata

Metadata identifier
urn:uuid/9cd2434b-fbc3-4efa-9631-9850a72be2ec

Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8

Distributor

IMAS Data Manager - Data Officer
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies
Private Bag 129
Hobart
Tasmania
7001
Australia
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) website >

Type of resource

Resource scope
Dataset
Name
IMAS Dataset level record
Metadata linkage
https://metadata.imas.utas.edu.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/9cd2434b-fbc3-4efa-9631-9850a72be2ec

Point of truth URL of this metadata record

Date info (Creation)
2024-08-27T00:00:00
Date info (Revision)
2025-03-08T17:29:43

Metadata standard

Title
ISO 19115-3:2018
 
 

Overviews

Spatial extent

N
S
E
W


Keywords

Marlborough Sounds seabirds
Global Change Master Directory Earth Science Keywords, Version 8.5
EARTH SCIENCE | BIOSPHERE | ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS | COMMUNITY DYNAMICS | INVASIVE SPECIES EARTH SCIENCE | BIOSPHERE | ECOSYSTEMS | TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS | ISLANDS EARTH SCIENCE | CLIMATE INDICATORS | PALEOCLIMATE INDICATORS | BIOLOGICAL RECORDS | TREE RINGS | ISOTOPIC ANALYSIS EARTH SCIENCE | CLIMATE INDICATORS | PALEOCLIMATE INDICATORS | ICE CORE RECORDS | ISOTOPES | NITROGEN ISOTOPES

Provided by

Share on social sites

Access to the record in catalogue
Read here the full details and access to the data.

Associated resources

Not available


  •  
  •  
  •