The effects of prey availability on the endangered bank cormorant Phalacroxorax neglectus

Includes bibliographical references.The bank cormorant Phalacrocorax neglectus is a seabird endemic to the south-western coast of southern Africa and the Benguela Upwelling System and has suffered a decline of more than 50% over three generations. Main threats include displacement by Cape fur seals Arctocephalus pusillus, direct human disturbance, pollution, climate change and food shortage. This thesis focuses on the bank cormorant’s response to food shortage, both directly and indirectly. Four colonies (Jutten Island, Dassen Island, Robben Island and Stony Point) were studied in terms of responses on population level in relation to the spatial distribution of prey surrounding the various colonies, foraging behaviour and breeding success. First, I tested the response of the bank cormorant ’ s population dynamics in relation to the availability of West Coast rock lobster Jasus lalandii in different spatial scales around three colonies (Jutten Island, Dassen Island and Stony Point) over a subset of years. I found that birds at Dassen Island showed the strongest response to the availability of rock lobster. Birds also showed strongest response to the availability of rock lobster in an accumulative distance around colonies, and their largest response was to rock lobster within 30 km distance from the colony. Various aspects including the life - history traits and moulting stages of this particular rock lobster species may be the reason to this response. Second, I present foraging effort data of bank cormorants in localities known to be situated in areas with different prey availability. I found that at Jutten Island, situated in an area where West Coast rock lobster have dramatically decreased, bank cormorants spent significantly longer time at sea than at Robben Island and Stony Point, which were situated in areas where rock lobster were known to be abundant at the time of the study. Third, I tested the effect of food availability on the breeding success of bank cormorants at Jutten Island, Robben Island and Stony Point. There was no significant relationship between food availability and the survival probability of the birds. The number of chicks fledged per successful nest, however was significantly related to the availability of rock lobster during the relevant breeding season, as well as during the relevant month of hatching