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			HotScience last updated: 19 February 2003 K... Keedwell, R. 2001. Evaluation of radio transmitters for measuring chick mortality in the banded dotterel. Waterbirds 24: 217-223. Details the results of a trial using elastic harnesses to attach radio transmitters to banded dotterel chicks in order to determine rates and causes of mortality. The technique only had limited application to young chicks because the harness occasionally fell off or entangled small chicks but the transmitters remained attached to chicks older than one week. Most mortality occurred in the first week, and predators were responsible for a minimum of 18% of deaths. Keedwell, R.J.; Maloney, R.F.; Murray. D.P. 2002. Predator control for protecting kaki (Himantopus novaezelandiae) - lessons from 20 years of management. Biological Conservation 105: 369-374. This paper discusses how after 20 years of predator control to protect kaki (black stilts) there is only limited evidence to suggest that predator trapping is beneficial for the survival of kaki. Lack of adequate experimental design and understanding of the predator-prey dynamics in the system in which kaki live appeared to be the main reasons why the benefits of predator control were not consistently clear. An adaptive management approach would have provided more information on the efficacy of predator trapping and increased understanding of the interrelationships between kaki survival and predator abundance. Keedwell, R.J., & Sanders, M.D. 2002. Nest monitor-ing and predator visitation at nests of banded dot-terels. The Condor 104: 899–902. We used video cameras to monitor nests of the banded dotterel (Charadrius bicinctus), to test whether conven-tional nest monitoring increased the chances of nests being visited by predators. We compared the predator visitation rates to 22 video-monitored nests, which were approached on foot daily to simulate conventional monitoring, with that of 17 nests that were monitored using video cameras only. Predator visitation rates did not differ, nor was there any evidence that predators used human scent trails to locate nests. This study provides evidence that monitoring banded dotterel nests by regularly checking them does not influence their risk of predation. Keedwell, R.J., Sanders, M.D., Alley, M., & Twentyman, C. 2002. Causes of mortality of black- fronted terns (Sterna albostriata) in the Ohau River, South Island, New Zealand. Pacific Conservation Biology 8: 170–176. The carcasses of 148 Black-fronted terns Sterna albostriata found during the 1998–2000 breeding seasons on the Ohau River were examined to determine causes of mortality. Predation was the primary cause of mortality of adults, juveniles and chicks, resulting in 47% of all deaths. Feral cats Felis catus, Norway rats Rattus norvegicus and, to a lesser extent, stoats Mustela erminea were the main predators responsible. The prey remains left by the different predator species are described. Predators are potentially the main cause of population decline in black- fronted terns and predator control during the breeding season should be trialled. Kelly, D., Hart, D.E. & Allen, R.B. 2001. Evaluating the wind-pollination benefits of mast seeding. Ecology 82: 117-126. A model for when plants gain pollination benefits from mast seeding shows that the greatest benefits go to species with low pollination success at the long term mean flowering effort. Tests of this model in Chionochloa, Nothofagus, Dacrydium and Betula alleghaniensis show a range of benefits from trivial in Chionochloa to very strong in N. solandri. This suggests that the pronounced masting seen in Nothofagus is attributable to pollination efficiencies. The model also explains the stronger masting seen at higher elevation sites, and predicts that habitat fragmentation could disrupt mast seeding benefits to pollination. Kelly, D.; Ladley, J.J.; Robertson, A.W.; Norton, D.A. 2000. Limited forest fragmentation improves reproduction in the declining New Zealand mistletoe Peraxilla tetrapetala (Loranthaceae). In: Genetics, demography and viability of fragmented populations. (Eds: Young, AG; Clarke, GM), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 241-252. A study of P. tetrapetala at Lake Ohau showed that mistletoes on the edges of forest fragments had higher pollination rates, and lower flower predation by a native moth (Zelleria sp.), than plants in intact forest. Dispersal was not affected by edge position. This suggests that reproduction is enhanced on edges because pollinators (principally bellbirds and native bees) favour edge plants. This effect is consistent with the higher mistletoe densities observed on edges, and could partially compensate for habitat loss in maintenance of mistletoe populations. Kelly, D; Harrison, A.L.; Lee, W.G.; Payton, I.J.; Wilson, P.R. & Schauber, E.M. 2000. Predator satiation and extreme mast seeding in 11 species of Chionochloa (Poaceae). Oikos 90: 477-488. This paper presents 16 long datasets on mast seeding in 11 Chionochloa species from Nelson Lakes to Takahe Valley and shows that there is high synchrony within and among species, driven by a common climate cue (warm temperatures in January-February the year before). Chionochloa crassiuscula from Takahe Valley (CV=3.02) is the most variable masting dataset worldwide and NZ species (including Nothofagus) make up 8 of the global top 20. Seed predation data from Takahe Valley suggest that the extreme masting arises because a cecidomyiid seed predator is exceptionally hard to satiate. Kelly, D.; Sork, V. L. 2002. Mast seeding in perennial plants: why, how, where? Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 33:427–447. This paper firstly reviews the possible causes of mast seeding. It tests the null hypothesis (variable weather causes variable seed-ing) and finds few convincing cases, then reviews the main selective hypotheses (predator satiation, enhanced pollination, animal dispersal). The second part analyses 570 masting datasets worldwide. Interestingly, 17 of the 26 datasets >24 yrs were from New Zealand. The analysis shows that masting is more pro-nounced in mid latitudes, in the southern hemisphere, in wind pollinated and abiotically dispersed plants, and in plants dis-persed by seed predators. Masting is predicted to be rare in the tropics, but more pronounced at unproductive sites.
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