Two popular rat monitoring methods are being investigated by Kiwi Coast and NorthTec this summer. It’s chew cards Vs tracking tunnels to see how the results stack up and if one method outperforms the other.
Rat control is carried out by many of the 103 entities linked into the Kiwi Coast. Some projects are carrying out continuous intensive rat control over hundreds of hectares, whilst others carry out targeted rat control operations with specific objectives such as reducing the predator load during key nesting times of native birds.
Each summer, Kiwi Coast supports two students from NorthTec’s Environment Management course to carry out practical fieldwork that contributes to monitoring, research or new ecological knowledge in Northland. Often, the research helps to answer questions or solve problems raised by the groups and projects linked into Kiwi Coast.
Kiwi Coast Coordinator Ngaire Tyson says “If one project is having problems with an aspect of pest control, or needing assistance with monitoring, chances are others are too. The Kiwi Coast – NorthTec Summer Research program has been going since 2013 and has proven to be a great way of carrying out top quality research into issues that are important to Northland community-led pest control and kiwi recovery projects”.
Environment Management tutor Dai Morgan says “This year we are comparing two established protocols that are used to estimate the abundance of rodents in forests. These are DOC’s tracking tunnel protocol and the National Possum Control Agency’s chew card protocol. The results will be extremely useful to community groups associated to the Kiwi Coast who want to estimate how their pest management activities are effecting rodent numbers.”
Field sites have been chosen from established projects with tracking tunnels already in place. These sites include Mt Manaia, Parihaka and Pukenui Forest. Video recorders, or ‘trail cams’ have also been set up to watch how rats interact with both types of monitoring equipment.
Dai adds “We’ve completed the first round of research at all sites. The results are looking promising, but it’s too early to tell if one method has an advantage over the other. We continue repeating the methods and comparing differences until Autumn 2018.”
Kiwi Coast and NorthTec will release the findings of the research once the fieldwork has been completed and all results analysed.
Results of Kiwi Coast monitoring and research are presented each year in the Kiwi Coast Annual Reports which can be downloaded here.
