Decades of artificial nests towards African Penguin conservation – have they made a difference?

African penguins are amongst the most threatened of seabird species globally and an African Penguin Biodiversity Management Plan (BMP) published in 2013 guides conservation strategies to prevent their extinction. To counter the impact of past guano exploitation which reduced nesting habitat of these burrowing seabirds, rendering them vulnerable to predators and extreme weather events, a suite of artificial nests was deployed in various colonies over the past decades with varying success. The BMP called for new nest designs to maximise breeding output. • This study assessed African penguin breeding success over the past 14 years in four types of artificial nests and in natural nests at all major colonies in South Africa. 
Overall, artificial nests outperformed natural nests and successfully increased breeding output of African penguins by 16.5% (95% CI: 6.7–26.2%). No design was, however, consistently most effective across locations. For example, fibreglass nests had the poorest hatching..., Breeding success monitoring
All research was conducted under permits approved by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment, SANParks, and/or CapeNature. Methods were approved by the Ethics Review Bodies at the University of Bristol, the University of Cape Town, the University of Exeter, and Nelson Mandela University at different times during the lifetime of the project.
African penguins typically lay a clutch of two eggs (Hockey et al., 2005). Most nests were selected during incubation, although some were monitored continuously each year, and others selected at a later stage. In most colonies, nests were selected randomly in various areas of the colony, but at Robben Island all nests in a selected area were monitored, with nests being added when eggs were laid throughout the season. The nests’ contents (number of adults, eggs, chicks and size of chicks) were monitored every 7-10 days. If the eggs disappeared between successive checks, the nest was assumed to have failed..., , # African Penguin breeding success

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.pg4f4qrzw](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.pg4f4qrzw)

## Description of the data and file structure

All research was conducted between 2008 and 2022 under permits approved by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment, SANParks, and/or CapeNature. Methods were approved by the Ethics Review Bodies at the University of Bristol, the University of Cape Town, the University of Exeter, and Nelson Mandela University at different times during the lifetime of the project.

| Column | Description |
| :------------------ | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Colony | African breeding penguin colony |
| Year | Year data collected |
|...