Vertical foraging shifts in Hawaiian forest birds in response to invasive rat removal

PLoS One. 2018 Sep 24;13(9):e0202869. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0202869. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Worldwide, native species increasingly contend with the interacting stressors of habitat fragmentation and invasive species, yet their combined effects have rarely been examined. Direct negative effects of invasive omnivores are well documented, but the indirect effects of resource competition or those caused by predator avoidance are unknown. Here we isolated and examined the independent and interactive effects of invasive omnivorous Black rats (Rattus rattus) and forest fragment size on the interactions between avian predators and their arthropod prey. Our study examines whether invasive omnivores and ecosystem fragment size impact: 1) the vertical distribution of arthropod species composition and abundance, and 2) the vertical profile of foraging behaviors of five native and two non-native bird species found in our study system. We predicted that the reduced edge effects and greater structural complexity and canopy height of larger fragments would limit the total and proportional habitat space frequented by rats and thus limit their impact on both arthropod biomass and birds' foraging behavior. We experimentally removed invasive omnivorous Black rats across a 100-fold (0.1 to 12 ha) size gradient of forest fragments on Hawai'i Island, and paired foraging observations of forest passerines with arthropod sampling in the 16 rat-removed and 18 control fragments. Rat removal was associated with shifts in the vertical distribution of arthropod biomass, irrespective of fragment size. Bird foraging behavior mirrored this shift, and the impact of rat removal was greater for birds that primarily eat fruit and insects compared with those that consume nectar. Evidence from this model study system indicates that invasive rats indirectly alter the feeding behavior of native birds, and consequently impact multiple trophic levels. This study suggests that native species can modify their foraging behavior in response to invasive species removal and presumably arrival through behavioral plasticity.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Arthropods / physiology*
  • Biomass
  • Feeding Behavior
  • Forests
  • Hawaii
  • Introduced Species
  • Predatory Behavior / physiology*
  • Raptors / physiology*
  • Rats

Grants and funding

Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation (DEB–1020412 to T. Fukami, C. P. Giardina; DEB–1020007 to D. S. Gruner; DEB-1240774 to D. S. Gruner and DEB–1019928 to D. J. Flaspohler), the Terman Fellowship of Stanford University to T. Fukami, and the Michigan Technological University Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program. The USDA Forest Service Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry provided funding support for implementation and maintenance of the larger study and for some of the resighting work. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. None of the funders had any input into the content of the manuscript. None of the funders required their approval of the manuscript before submission or publication.