Coastal Restoration Trust of New Zealand

Coastal Dune Ecosystem Reference Database

Morphology, Stratigraphy and Origin of Last Interglacial Beach Ridges at Bream Bay, New Zealand Journal Paper

Author
Nichol, S.L.
Year
2002
Journal / Source
Journal of Coastal Research
Volume
18
Pages
149-159
Keywords
Kiore, Rattus exulans, population ecology, food, predation, interspecific relationships, tuatara, Sphenodon punctatus, Lady Alice Island
Summary
Kiore were snap-trapped in five forest habitats on Lady Alice Island. Trapping was most successful from late autumn to early spring and in coastal scrub habitat Breeding extended over at least 6 months (November to April) during which females produced 2-3 litters each averaging five young. Although plant material was most abundant in rat stomachs (averaging 78% volumetrically), a wide range of animal foods was taken. Weevils, scarab beedes, moth larvae of the family Hepialidae, weta (Orthoptera), and down feathers of burrowing seabini chicks were the most frequently recovered. No tuatara remains were found in rat stomachs, but fragments of three skinks (Cyclodina and/or Leiolopisma spp.) were recorded. We postulate that in the absence of rats, tuatara densities will be highest on islands that have been partly cleared of forest. In the presence of kiore, tuatara are more likely to persist on islands with minimal modification of the original forest