Wayne Linklater - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Wayne Linklater
Conservation Letters, 2018
New Zealand's policy to exterminate five introduced predators by 2050 is well-meant but warrants ... more New Zealand's policy to exterminate five introduced predators by 2050 is well-meant but warrants critique and comparison against alternatives. The goal is current or near-future technologies and resources. Its effects on ecosystems and 26 other mammalian predators and herbivores will be complex. Some negative out-comes are likely. Predators are not always and everywhere the largest impact on bio-diversity. Lower intensity predator suppression, habitat protection and restoration,and prey refugia will sometimes better support threatened biodiversity. The policy draws attention to where predators are easily killed, not where biodiversity values are greatest. Pest control operations are already contested and imposing the policy is likely to escalate those conflicts. While “high-profile,” a focus on predator eradication obscures the fact that indigenous habitat cover and quality continues to decline.Thus, the policy is flawed and risks diverting effort and resources from higher environmental priorities and better alternatives. Biodiversity conservation policies should be guided by cost-benefit analyses, prioritization schemes, and conservation planning in an adaptive management framework to deliver nuanced outcomes appropriate to scale- and site-specific variation in biodiversity values and threats. The success of biodiversity sanctuary-“spillover” landscapes, habitat restoration, and metapopulation management provide the foundation to build a better policy.
Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 2015
Comparisons of recent estimations of home range sizes for the critically endangered black rhinoce... more Comparisons of recent estimations of home range sizes for the critically endangered black rhinoceros in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (HiP), South Africa, with historical estimates led reports of a substantial (54%) increase, attributed to over-stocking and habitat deterioration that has far-reaching implications for rhino conservation. Other reports, however, suggest the increase is more likely an artefact caused by applying various home range estimators to non-standardised datasets. We collected 1939 locations of 25 black rhino over six years (2004–2009) to estimate annual home ranges and evaluate the hypothesis that they have increased in size. A minimum of 30 and 25 locations were required for accurate 95% MCP estimation of home range of adult rhinos, during the dry and wet seasons respectively. Forty and 55 locations were required for adult female and male annual MCP home ranges, respectively, and 30 locations were necessary for estimating 90% bivariate kernel home ranges accurately. Average annual 95% bivariate kernel home ranges were 20.4 ± 1.2 km 2 , 53 ±1.9% larger than 95% MCP ranges (9.8 km 2 ± 0.9). When home range techniques used during the late-1960s in HiP were applied to our dataset, estimates were similar, indicating that ranges have not changed substantially in 50 years. Inaccurate, non-standardised, home range estimates and their comparison have the potential to mislead black rhino population management. We recommend that more care be taken to collect adequate numbers of rhino locations within standardized time periods (i.e., season or year) and that the comparison of home ranges estimated using dissimilar procedures be avoided. Home range studies of black rhino have been data deficient and procedurally inconsistent. Standardisa-tion of methods is required.
PloS one, 2016
Comparisons of recent estimations of home range sizes for the critically endangered black rhinoce... more Comparisons of recent estimations of home range sizes for the critically endangered black rhinoceros in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (HiP), South Africa, with historical estimates led reports of a substantial (54%) increase, attributed to over-stocking and habitat deterioration that has far-reaching implications for rhino conservation. Other reports, however, suggest the increase is more likely an artefact caused by applying various home range estimators to non-standardised datasets. We collected 1939 locations of 25 black rhino over six years (2004-2009) to estimate annual home ranges and evaluate the hypothesis that they have increased in size. A minimum of 30 and 25 locations were required for accurate 95% MCP estimation of home range of adult rhinos, during the dry and wet seasons respectively. Forty and 55 locations were required for adult female and male annual MCP home ranges, respectively, and 30 locations were necessary for estimating 90% bivariate kernel home ranges accurately. ...
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 10871209 2015 961213, Mar 9, 2015
BioScience, 2004
Behavioral ecologists have advocated a greater role for behavioral research in conservation, and ... more Behavioral ecologists have advocated a greater role for behavioral research in conservation, and the contribution of behavioral study to conservation has increased dramatically. However, a review of the literature in the fields of behavioral ecology and ...
Wildlife Society Bulletin, 2002
... Wayne Linklater (right) is a Millennium Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Center for Reproduction o... more ... Wayne Linklater (right) is a Millennium Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species of the Zoological Society of San Diego (BS and MS in freshwater ecology, University of Canterbury; Ph.D. in ecology, 1999, Massey University, New Zealand). ...
Journal of Zoology, 1999
Among mammals, non-offspring nursing is the most extreme form of communal parenting. This is beca... more Among mammals, non-offspring nursing is the most extreme form of communal parenting. This is because lactation is the most energetically costly part of parental investment (Clutton-Brock, 1991; Packer, Lewis & Pusey, 1992). Non-offspring nursing is most common in species characterized by large litters and small kin groups (Packer et al., 1992; e.g. lions Panthera leo: Pusey & Packer, 1994). Although non-offspring nursing has also been reported in monotocous species (e.g. water buffalo Bubalus bubalus, Murphey et al., 1995; African elephant Loxodonta africana: Dublin, 1983; Lee, 1987; Indian elephant Elaphus maximus: MacKay, 1973; Rapaport & Haight, 1987; fallow deer Cervus dama: San José & Braza, 1993) it is almost always associated with reproductive errors (Riedman, 1982) such as milk theft or exclusive adoption (Packer et al., 1992). However, simultaneous non-offspring nursing in monotocous species has been reported in some bat species (e.g. McCracken, 1984; Eales, Bullock & Slater, 1988), African elephants (Lee, 1987), and captive Indian elephants (Rapaport & Haight, 1987). Recent research, however, suggests that nutritive non-offspring nursing in African elephants is rarer than previously thought as most reported instances were probably non-lactating juveniles allowing infants to suckle (Lee & Moss, 1986; Lee, 1987, 1989).
Animals, 2013
The North Island kākā (Nestor meridionalis septentrionalis), a threatened New Zealand native parr... more The North Island kākā (Nestor meridionalis septentrionalis), a threatened New Zealand native parrot, was successfully reintroduced to an urban sanctuary in Wellington, New Zealand. Conflict has recently begun to emerge with Wellington City residents due to tree damage caused by kākā sap foraging. Little is known about sap foraging behavior of kākā, and this study aimed to gain a greater understanding of this behavior, and to test hypotheses that sap feeding is predominantly a female activity and that one technique, forming transverse gouges through bark, may be restricted to adult kākā. We used instantaneous scan sampling to record the behavior of kākā during 25 60-100 minute observation periods at Anderson Park, Wellington Botanic Garden, and during 13 opportunistic observations of sap feeding kākā in Wellington City. Forty-one observations of sap feeding were made of 21 individually-identified birds. Sap feeding birds were predominantly young and, based on estimated sex, females were no more likely to sap feed than males (exact binomial test p = 0.868). Twenty of the 21 identified sap feeding kākā utilized supplementary feeding stations at Zealandia-Karori Wildlife Sanctuary. Kākā were observed defending sap feeding sites from tui (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae) and conspecifics. Sap appears to be an important resource for kākā across sexes and life stages, and provision of supplementary food is unlikely to reduce sap feeding and tree damage in Wellington City.
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 03014220909510147, Feb 19, 2010
We compare the number of medium‐sized animals (between rat and dog‐size) killed on repeated count... more We compare the number of medium‐sized animals (between rat and dog‐size) killed on repeated counts along the same 1660 km of North Island highways in 1984, 1994 and 2005 with other counts going back to 1949. Elevenmammal and 14 bird species were recorded, but Australian possums (Trichosurus vulpecula), hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) and rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) predominated, and pukekos (Porphyrio porphyrio),
... Linklater WL. Centre for Biodiversity & Restoration Ecology, School of Biological... more ... Linklater WL. Centre for Biodiversity & Restoration Ecology, School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington 6140, New Zealand.wayne.linklater@vuw.ac.nz. Comment on: Behav Processes. 2007 Sep;76(1):1-13. ...
South African Journal of Wildlife Research, 2010
Reproduction, Fertility and Development, 2007
New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 2009
We compare the number of medium‐sized animals (between rat and dog‐size) killed on repeated count... more We compare the number of medium‐sized animals (between rat and dog‐size) killed on repeated counts along the same 1660 km of North Island highways in 1984, 1994 and 2005 with other counts going back to 1949. Elevenmammal and 14 bird species were recorded, but Australian possums (Trichosurus vulpecula), hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) and rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) predominated, and pukekos (Porphyrio porphyrio),
Journal of Wildlife Management, 2008
... released 1 E-mail: wayne.linklater@vuw.ac.nz 2 Present address: Centre for Biodiversity and R... more ... released 1 E-mail: wayne.linklater@vuw.ac.nz 2 Present address: Centre for Biodiversity and Restoration Ecology, School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington 6140, New Zealand ...
Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition, 2011
Conservation Letters, 2018
New Zealand's policy to exterminate five introduced predators by 2050 is well-meant but warrants ... more New Zealand's policy to exterminate five introduced predators by 2050 is well-meant but warrants critique and comparison against alternatives. The goal is current or near-future technologies and resources. Its effects on ecosystems and 26 other mammalian predators and herbivores will be complex. Some negative out-comes are likely. Predators are not always and everywhere the largest impact on bio-diversity. Lower intensity predator suppression, habitat protection and restoration,and prey refugia will sometimes better support threatened biodiversity. The policy draws attention to where predators are easily killed, not where biodiversity values are greatest. Pest control operations are already contested and imposing the policy is likely to escalate those conflicts. While “high-profile,” a focus on predator eradication obscures the fact that indigenous habitat cover and quality continues to decline.Thus, the policy is flawed and risks diverting effort and resources from higher environmental priorities and better alternatives. Biodiversity conservation policies should be guided by cost-benefit analyses, prioritization schemes, and conservation planning in an adaptive management framework to deliver nuanced outcomes appropriate to scale- and site-specific variation in biodiversity values and threats. The success of biodiversity sanctuary-“spillover” landscapes, habitat restoration, and metapopulation management provide the foundation to build a better policy.
Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 2015
Comparisons of recent estimations of home range sizes for the critically endangered black rhinoce... more Comparisons of recent estimations of home range sizes for the critically endangered black rhinoceros in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (HiP), South Africa, with historical estimates led reports of a substantial (54%) increase, attributed to over-stocking and habitat deterioration that has far-reaching implications for rhino conservation. Other reports, however, suggest the increase is more likely an artefact caused by applying various home range estimators to non-standardised datasets. We collected 1939 locations of 25 black rhino over six years (2004–2009) to estimate annual home ranges and evaluate the hypothesis that they have increased in size. A minimum of 30 and 25 locations were required for accurate 95% MCP estimation of home range of adult rhinos, during the dry and wet seasons respectively. Forty and 55 locations were required for adult female and male annual MCP home ranges, respectively, and 30 locations were necessary for estimating 90% bivariate kernel home ranges accurately. Average annual 95% bivariate kernel home ranges were 20.4 ± 1.2 km 2 , 53 ±1.9% larger than 95% MCP ranges (9.8 km 2 ± 0.9). When home range techniques used during the late-1960s in HiP were applied to our dataset, estimates were similar, indicating that ranges have not changed substantially in 50 years. Inaccurate, non-standardised, home range estimates and their comparison have the potential to mislead black rhino population management. We recommend that more care be taken to collect adequate numbers of rhino locations within standardized time periods (i.e., season or year) and that the comparison of home ranges estimated using dissimilar procedures be avoided. Home range studies of black rhino have been data deficient and procedurally inconsistent. Standardisa-tion of methods is required.
PloS one, 2016
Comparisons of recent estimations of home range sizes for the critically endangered black rhinoce... more Comparisons of recent estimations of home range sizes for the critically endangered black rhinoceros in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (HiP), South Africa, with historical estimates led reports of a substantial (54%) increase, attributed to over-stocking and habitat deterioration that has far-reaching implications for rhino conservation. Other reports, however, suggest the increase is more likely an artefact caused by applying various home range estimators to non-standardised datasets. We collected 1939 locations of 25 black rhino over six years (2004-2009) to estimate annual home ranges and evaluate the hypothesis that they have increased in size. A minimum of 30 and 25 locations were required for accurate 95% MCP estimation of home range of adult rhinos, during the dry and wet seasons respectively. Forty and 55 locations were required for adult female and male annual MCP home ranges, respectively, and 30 locations were necessary for estimating 90% bivariate kernel home ranges accurately. ...
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 10871209 2015 961213, Mar 9, 2015
BioScience, 2004
Behavioral ecologists have advocated a greater role for behavioral research in conservation, and ... more Behavioral ecologists have advocated a greater role for behavioral research in conservation, and the contribution of behavioral study to conservation has increased dramatically. However, a review of the literature in the fields of behavioral ecology and ...
Wildlife Society Bulletin, 2002
... Wayne Linklater (right) is a Millennium Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Center for Reproduction o... more ... Wayne Linklater (right) is a Millennium Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species of the Zoological Society of San Diego (BS and MS in freshwater ecology, University of Canterbury; Ph.D. in ecology, 1999, Massey University, New Zealand). ...
Journal of Zoology, 1999
Among mammals, non-offspring nursing is the most extreme form of communal parenting. This is beca... more Among mammals, non-offspring nursing is the most extreme form of communal parenting. This is because lactation is the most energetically costly part of parental investment (Clutton-Brock, 1991; Packer, Lewis & Pusey, 1992). Non-offspring nursing is most common in species characterized by large litters and small kin groups (Packer et al., 1992; e.g. lions Panthera leo: Pusey & Packer, 1994). Although non-offspring nursing has also been reported in monotocous species (e.g. water buffalo Bubalus bubalus, Murphey et al., 1995; African elephant Loxodonta africana: Dublin, 1983; Lee, 1987; Indian elephant Elaphus maximus: MacKay, 1973; Rapaport & Haight, 1987; fallow deer Cervus dama: San José & Braza, 1993) it is almost always associated with reproductive errors (Riedman, 1982) such as milk theft or exclusive adoption (Packer et al., 1992). However, simultaneous non-offspring nursing in monotocous species has been reported in some bat species (e.g. McCracken, 1984; Eales, Bullock & Slater, 1988), African elephants (Lee, 1987), and captive Indian elephants (Rapaport & Haight, 1987). Recent research, however, suggests that nutritive non-offspring nursing in African elephants is rarer than previously thought as most reported instances were probably non-lactating juveniles allowing infants to suckle (Lee & Moss, 1986; Lee, 1987, 1989).
Animals, 2013
The North Island kākā (Nestor meridionalis septentrionalis), a threatened New Zealand native parr... more The North Island kākā (Nestor meridionalis septentrionalis), a threatened New Zealand native parrot, was successfully reintroduced to an urban sanctuary in Wellington, New Zealand. Conflict has recently begun to emerge with Wellington City residents due to tree damage caused by kākā sap foraging. Little is known about sap foraging behavior of kākā, and this study aimed to gain a greater understanding of this behavior, and to test hypotheses that sap feeding is predominantly a female activity and that one technique, forming transverse gouges through bark, may be restricted to adult kākā. We used instantaneous scan sampling to record the behavior of kākā during 25 60-100 minute observation periods at Anderson Park, Wellington Botanic Garden, and during 13 opportunistic observations of sap feeding kākā in Wellington City. Forty-one observations of sap feeding were made of 21 individually-identified birds. Sap feeding birds were predominantly young and, based on estimated sex, females were no more likely to sap feed than males (exact binomial test p = 0.868). Twenty of the 21 identified sap feeding kākā utilized supplementary feeding stations at Zealandia-Karori Wildlife Sanctuary. Kākā were observed defending sap feeding sites from tui (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae) and conspecifics. Sap appears to be an important resource for kākā across sexes and life stages, and provision of supplementary food is unlikely to reduce sap feeding and tree damage in Wellington City.
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 03014220909510147, Feb 19, 2010
We compare the number of medium‐sized animals (between rat and dog‐size) killed on repeated count... more We compare the number of medium‐sized animals (between rat and dog‐size) killed on repeated counts along the same 1660 km of North Island highways in 1984, 1994 and 2005 with other counts going back to 1949. Elevenmammal and 14 bird species were recorded, but Australian possums (Trichosurus vulpecula), hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) and rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) predominated, and pukekos (Porphyrio porphyrio),
... Linklater WL. Centre for Biodiversity & Restoration Ecology, School of Biological... more ... Linklater WL. Centre for Biodiversity & Restoration Ecology, School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington 6140, New Zealand.wayne.linklater@vuw.ac.nz. Comment on: Behav Processes. 2007 Sep;76(1):1-13. ...
South African Journal of Wildlife Research, 2010
Reproduction, Fertility and Development, 2007
New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 2009
We compare the number of medium‐sized animals (between rat and dog‐size) killed on repeated count... more We compare the number of medium‐sized animals (between rat and dog‐size) killed on repeated counts along the same 1660 km of North Island highways in 1984, 1994 and 2005 with other counts going back to 1949. Elevenmammal and 14 bird species were recorded, but Australian possums (Trichosurus vulpecula), hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) and rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) predominated, and pukekos (Porphyrio porphyrio),
Journal of Wildlife Management, 2008
... released 1 E-mail: wayne.linklater@vuw.ac.nz 2 Present address: Centre for Biodiversity and R... more ... released 1 E-mail: wayne.linklater@vuw.ac.nz 2 Present address: Centre for Biodiversity and Restoration Ecology, School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington 6140, New Zealand ...
Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition, 2011