Philip J Seddon

University of Otago · Department of Zoology

With the extinction of yellow-eyed penguins Megadyptes antipodes on mainland New Zealand predicted within the next few decades, identifying preventable causes of mortality during the juvenile dispersal period is critical. Between 2017 and 2019, we tracked 30 juvenile yellow-eyed penguins during their post-fledging dispersal to determine their dispe...

Context Large-scale programs for eradication of pest mammals are confronted with the challenge of managing reinvasion. Exploiting high-elevation landscape features that naturally limit the rate of reinvasion is a strategy that is presumed to improve the success of such initiatives, however, the efficacy of doing so has not yet been investigated. O...

Endangered yellow-eyed penguins (Megadyptes antipodes) are central-place, benthic-diving foragers that search for prey in the productive marine areas off the coast of the South Island, New Zealand. Like other seabirds, they target specific, reliable areas of high prey abundance, which are often associated with oceanographic characteristics such as...

The remote collection of animal location data has proliferated in recent decades, and higher-frequency data are increasingly available with battery-saving optimisations such as ‘snapshot’ algorithms that acquire GPS satellite data and post-process locations off-board. This is the first study to assess the effects of vegetation and topography on the...

Individual-level differences in animal spatial behaviour have been identified in numerous species, which can lead to differential exposure to risk for different groups, particularly for reintroduced species in fragmented landscapes. To assess the risk-exposure of a population of kākā ( Nestor meridionalis ) reintroduced into a fenced reserve, we GP...

The endangered yellow-eyed penguin/hoiho (Megadyptes antipodes) predominantly forages benthically within its mainland range and shows high foraging site fidelity. Identifying consistencies in foraging locations can allow effective conservation, especially when managing bycatch risk. This study investigated the at-sea distribution of penguins breedi...

There have been extensive declines and extinctions of native fauna in Aotearoa New Zealand since human settlement. Against this background of loss there have been remarkable advances in conservation management, particularly in the large-scale eradication and control of exotic mammalian pests. Pest control creates opportunities to return animals to...

Mechanisms promoting coexistence between closely related species are fundamental for maintaining species diversity. Mechanisms of niche differentiation include allochrony which offsets the peak timing of resource utilisation between species. Many studies focus on spatial and temporal niche partitioning during the breeding season, few have investiga...

Fiordland crested penguins (tawaki; Eudyptes pachyrhynchus) lack sexually dimorphic plumage so behavioural cues or bill size have traditionally been used to determine sex in the field. We aimed to identify morphological characters that can be quickly and reliably be measured in the field to accurately sex adult tawaki, and validated these with gene...

Invasive mammalian pests threaten biodiversity globally across a diverse range of habitats. The unique combination of resource subsidies and disturbance in cities can provide favourable conditions for invasion. Recent interest in urban biodiversity enhancement has increased the demand for effective urban pest control, but efforts are often hampered...

The time is ripe for the global conservation community to initiate a formal evaluation of regulatory approaches for assisted colonization, along with regulatory guidance on its implementation. Ecological and social vetting and risk assessment in potential assisted- colonization projects are already likely to slow the process. Appropriate screening...

European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) occur in New Zealand's high alpine zones, but it is not known if populations persist in such areas year-round. We hypothesised that hedgehogs respond to the arrival of winter conditions (cold temperatures, snowfall, and lack of available food) by making short-distance altitudinal migrations to lower elevatio...

In response to anthropogenic threats, conservation translocations are increasingly used to combat species' population and range declines. However, moving animals outside of their current distribution can mean introducing them to novel conditions, even in the case of reintroductions to formerly inhabited areas due to ecosystem changes following exti...

Conservation programmes aiming to suppress or remove invasive small mammal populations that threaten endemic fauna assume that eliminating an individual predator has the same effect as eliminating a conspecific in terms of decreasing risk to the prey species. However, marked between-individual variation in prey take could, at times, lead to uneven...

New Zealand faces significant ecological problems caused by the introduction of a variety of invasive small mammal species. Many of these species originate from temperate to subarctic climates and occur across wide elevations in their native range, and so arrived predisposed to adapt to a variety of habitats and bioclimatic zones in their new envir...

Rehabilitation of sick or injured wildlife supports wild populations of threatened species by improving the health of individuals. Post‐release assessment of the efficacy of rehabilitation relies on re‐sighting and identification of both rehabilitated and comparable wild individuals. For species or age classes with naturally low survival rates and...

Despite growing interest in using lightweight unmanned aerial systems (UASs) for ecological research and conservation, review of the operational aspects of these evolving technologies is limited in the scientific literature. To derive an objective framework for choosing among technologies we calculated efficiency measures and conducted a data envel...

As the biodiversity crisis accelerates, the stakes are higher for threatened plants and animals. Rebuilding the health of our planet will require addressing underlying threats at many scales, including habitat loss and climate change. Conservation interventions such as habitat protection, management, restoration, predator control, translocation, ge...

Aim Correlative species distribution models (SDMs) are typically trained using only the contemporary distribution of species; however, recent records might reflect an incomplete description of a species' niche, limiting the reliability of predictions. SDMs linking fossil records have the potential to improve conservation decisions under human‐induc...

In June 2020, Revive & Restore hosted the Intended Consequences Workshop to explore how the field of conservation can realize the benefits of genetic interventions and address concerns about unintended consequences of these actions. A group of 57 participants from eight countries representing government , academia, and conservation practice discuss...

Supplementary food is provided to native birds in eco-sanctuaries throughout New Zealand to discourage their movement outside the sanctuary, to enhance reproductive success, and to promote visitor encounters with wildlife. We recorded the frequency of visits by South Island kākā (Nestor meridionalis meridionalis) to four feeders in Orokonui eco-san...

Invasive mammalian pests threaten biodiversity globally across a diverse range of habitats. The unique combination of resource subsidies and disturbance in cities can provide favourable conditions for invasion. Recent interest in urban biodiversity enhancement has increased the demand for effective urban pest control, but efforts are often hampered...

Conservation programmes aiming to suppress or remove invasive small mammal populations that threaten endemic fauna assume that eliminating an individual predator has the same effect as eliminating a conspecific in terms of decreasing risk to the prey species. However, marked between-individual variation in prey take could, at times, lead to uneven...

Endemic island species are of conservation interest as unique taxa, often with restricted populations, but many are data poor. The Mangaia kingfisher Todiramphus ruficollaris , known locally as the tanga‘eo, is endemic to the island of Mangaia in the Cook Islands, and categorized as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. The population size has not been...

21st Sharjah International Conservation Forum for Arabia's Biodiversity - Volume 54 Issue 3 - Philip Seddon, Gerhard Steenkamp, David Mallon, Helen Senn, Sarah May, Kevin Budd, Jane Budd

Species reintroductions are high‐investment ecological interventions that require careful planning. Predictive models are useful tools for managing reintroductions. We provide an overview of habitat suitability, dispersal, population dynamics and interspecies models, considering potential uses and limitations of established methods for reintroducti...

Diet studies of marine predators provide insights into the functioning and structure of marine ecosystems. Such studies have been greatly enhanced in recent years with technology enabling direct observation of feeding behaviour in the marine environment. We here report on observations of an interesting predation event involving Gentoo penguins (Pyg...

Context Wildlife tourism is expanding and can detrimentally affect taxa such as penguins, if not managed carefully. The yellow-eyed penguin (Megadyptes antipodes) is an endangered species, with mainland populations projected to decline to extinction in the next 40 years, despite conservation interventions. Their nesting sites are exposed to increas...

Context. Diet variability is a significant driver of seabird decline; however, data on seabird diet composition and trends have been affected by changes in precision and resolution owing to the evolution of different sampling methods over time. We investigated the effectiveness of applying a passive molecular diet method using faeces obtained from...

20th Sharjah International Conservation Forum for Arabia's Biodiversity - Volume 53 Issue 3 - Philip Seddon, John Pereira, Gerhard Steenkamp, David Mallon, Helen Senn, Sarah May

More than half of the world's 18 penguin species are declining. We, the Steering Committee of the International Union for Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission Penguin Specialist Group, determined that the penguin species in most critical need of conservation action are African penguin (Spheniscus demersus), Galápagos penguin (Sphenisc...

More and more research is showing how spending time in nature is good for our health and development. Yet, children living in urban areas (towns and cities) may find it difficult to spend time in nature. Their neighborhoods may have little nearby nature to interact with, or they may not be allowed travel on their own to reach natural spaces. Missin...

Penguins face a wide range of threats. Most observed population changes have been negative and have happened over the last 60 years. Today, populations of 11 of the 18 penguin species are decreasing. Here we present a review that synthesizes details of threats faced by the world’s 18 species of penguins. We discuss alterations to their environment...

While studies of animal behaviour have performed a key role in informing conservation management of threatened species, antipredator behaviours are rarely considered in conservation decision making. This study assessed the impact of the translocation of an endemic New Zealand bird to a predator-free ecosanctuary on its antipredator behaviour. We co...

Identifying release sites with good habitat quality is one of the most important steps in any reintroduction project. However, despite their wide application in legislation and research, the habitat concept and habitat-related terms remain poorly defined and subject to confusion. Reviewing a variety of definitions, we advocate for understanding hab...

The Australian redback spider, Latrodectus hasseltii preys on at least 10 endemic species in New Zealand, highlighting a need for control. Male redbacks are attracted to virgin females by an airborne pheromone. The aim of this study was to analyse the response of male redback spiders to two volatile chemicals found on the silk of virgin but not mat...

A reintroduction is an attempt to re-establish a wild population of a species in a location where it used to occur. It is a form of 'conservation translocation', which also includes reinforcement of existing populations, or attemps to establish a species outside its indigenous range for conservation purposes. Conservation translocations are often p...

Migratory species often roam vast distances bringing them into contact with diverse conditions and threats that could play significant roles in their population dynamics. This is especially true if long-range travels occur within crucial stages of a species’ annual life-cycle. Crested penguins, for example, usually disperse over several hundreds of...

19th International Conservation Forum for Arabia's Biodiversity - Volume 52 Issue 3 - Philip Seddon, Mike Knight, Gerhard Steenkamp, Craig Hilton-Taylor, David Mallon, Helen Senn

The thermal sensitivity of physiological rates is a key characteristic of organisms. For tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus), the last surviving member of the reptilian order Rhynchocephalia and an unusually cold-tolerant reptile, we aimed to clarify responses in indices of metabolic rate (oxygen consumption [[Formula: see text]] and carbon dioxide produ...

Migratory species often roam vast distances bringing them into contact with diverse conditions and threats that could play significant roles in their population dynamics. This is especially true if long-range travels occur within crucial stages of a species’ annual life-cycle. Crested penguins, for example, usually disperse over several hundreds of...

Migratory species often roam vast distances bringing them into contact with diverse conditions and threats that could play significant roles in their population dynamics. This is especially true if long-range travels occur within crucial stages of a species’ annual life-cycle. Crested penguins, for example, usually disperse over several hundreds of...

Urban areas are highly modified landscapes that can support significant biodiversity, including threatened species, although native species are usually present at low densities and several native species will be absent. The most powerful tool for increasing urban biodiversity is supporting existing biodiversity through appropriately designed and ma...

While many studies have documented the decline in the extent of children's independent movements, none have explicitly evaluated the impact of this change in behaviour on opportunities to connect with nature. We estimate and compare the biodiversity values within urban children's home ranges, and relate exposure to biodiversity to children's percep...

Jellyfish and other pelagic gelatinous organisms (“gelata”) are increasingly perceived as an important component of marine food webs but remain poorly understood. Their importance as prey in the oceans is extremely difficult to quantify due in part to methodological challenges in verifying predation on gelatinous structures. Miniaturized animal-bor...

Bringing back iconic and beloved extinct species is a hot and intensely debated current topic. Yet, the parasites of de-extinction candidate species have remained largely overlooked in this debate. Here we point out the potentially far-reaching ecological impacts of bringing back extinct species without their parasites.

Reintroduction biology is a field of scientific research that aims to inform translocations of endangered species. We review two decades of published literature to evaluate whether reintroduction science is evolving in its decision-support role, as called for by advocates of evidence-based conservation. Reintroduction research increasingly addresse...

18th International Conservation Forum for Arabia's Biodiversity - Volume 51 Issue 3 - Philip Seddon, Mike Knight, Gerhard Steenkamp, Craig Hilton-Taylor, David Mallon

Climate change is a global issue with effects that are difficult to manage at a regional scale. Yet more often than not climate factors are just some of multiple stressors affecting species on a population level. Non-climatic factors—especially those of anthropogenic origins—may play equally important roles with regard to impacts on species and are...

ESM2—M-arrays

ESM5—gibbs variable selection

Mark-recapture & co-variate data

ESM4—Correlation matrices for model parametrization

ESM1—description of population model

ESM3—Posterior distributions for all three prio configurations

Interactions between invasive species can be difficult to predict and can result in unanticipated impacts of significance for native fauna. Here we show that introduced European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) create habitat that enables invasive redback spiders (Latrodectus hasselti Thorell, 1870) to establish and prey upon the nationally endanger...

While there have been significant conservation successes through restoration of island biodiversity following the eradication of invasive predators, a major challenge remains to reintroduce native species within larger mainland systems that support suites of introduced mammalian predators. Strategies to enhance establishment and persistence of rein...

The southern portion of New Zealand’s South Island is a productive area for mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) despite a notable lack of permanent or semi-permanent wetlands. Most broods are reared in pastures that may or may not be flooded with ephemeral water. In recent years, there has been an increased conversion from continuous to sporadic grazing...

Climate change is a global issue with effects that are difficult to manage at a regional scale. Yet more often than not climate factors are just some of multiple stressors affecting species on a population level. Non-climatic factors - especially those of anthropogenic origins - may play equally important roles with regard to impacts on species and...

Well-studied, long-lived species, such as seabirds, can be exposed to decades of investigator interventions, and if the species is of conservation concern, intensive monitoring and management as well. Most evaluations of impacts of investigator disturbance have been relatively short-term. We evaluated both short- and long-term impacts of investigat...

There is contentious debate surrounding the merits of de-extinction as a biodiversity conservation tool. Here, we use extant analogues to predict conservation actions for potential de-extinction candidate species from New Zealand and the Australian state of New South Wales, and use a prioritization protocol to predict the impacts of reintroducing a...

Longitudinal studies focusing on lifetime reproductive success (LRS) have been used to measure individual breeding performance and identify commonalities among successful breeders. By extending the focus to subsequent generations we identify a proportion of high-quality individuals that contribute disproportionately to the population over multiple...

Raw data for the analysis of lifetime reproductive success.

R code, model selection tables and results from cohort analysis.

Counts of birds can inform studies with different goals, such as estimating population size, monitoring populations over time and in response to environmental change, and estimating vital rates to model population dynamics. Because estimates need to be reasonably accurate and precise, considerable thought has gone into developing counting technique...