Invasive mammal eradication on islands results in substantial conservation gains
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Published source details
Jones H.P., Holmes N.D., Butchart S.H.M., Tershy B.R., Kappes P.J., Corkery I., Aguirre-Muñoz A., Armstrong D.P., Bonnaud E., Burbidge A.A., Campbell K., Courchamp F., Cowan P.E., Cuthbert R.J., Ebbert S., Genovesi P., Howald G.R., Keitt B.S., Kress S.W., Miskelly C.M., Oppel S., Poncet S., Rauzon M.J., Rocamora G., Russell J.C., Samaniego-Herrera A., Seddon P.J., Spatz D.R., Towns D.R. & Croll D.A. (2016) Invasive mammal eradication on islands results in substantial conservation gains. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 113, 4033-4038.
Published source details Jones H.P., Holmes N.D., Butchart S.H.M., Tershy B.R., Kappes P.J., Corkery I., Aguirre-Muñoz A., Armstrong D.P., Bonnaud E., Burbidge A.A., Campbell K., Courchamp F., Cowan P.E., Cuthbert R.J., Ebbert S., Genovesi P., Howald G.R., Keitt B.S., Kress S.W., Miskelly C.M., Oppel S., Poncet S., Rauzon M.J., Rocamora G., Russell J.C., Samaniego-Herrera A., Seddon P.J., Spatz D.R., Towns D.R. & Croll D.A. (2016) Invasive mammal eradication on islands results in substantial conservation gains. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 113, 4033-4038.
Summary
Control mammalian predators on islands for seabirds
A global review in 2016 (Jones et al. 2016) found that following successful eradications of invasive mammals from islands, most targeted bird species benefitted, with population recovery and recolonizations of islands, while a small number of species suffered negative effects, mostly temporary. Post–eradication, 67 bird species (88 populations of seabirds and 33 populations of land birds) recolonised islands where they had previously been extirpated. Birds that benefitted from eradication included 47% of the world’s critically endangered and 74% of the endangered species seabirds. For three bird species, Seychelles magpie robin Copsychus sechellarum, Cook’s petrel Pterodroma cookii and black-vented shearwater Puffinus opisthomelas, the mammal eradication resulted in qualification for a lower category of extinction risk. Eight bird populations (rufous-crowned sparrow Aimophila ruficeps obscura, Bald eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus, brown skua Stercorarius antarcticus, northern giant petrel Macronectes halli, southern giant petrel Macronectes giganteus, Galápagos hawk Buteo galapagoensis, Atlantic puffin Fratercula arctica) suffered negative population–scale impacts of poisoning from which they did not recover 3–17 years post–eradication but four of those were expected to recover in the future. Birds were the main intended beneficiary of mammal eradications, which mainly included rodents (57%), goats (Capra hircus) (11%), and feral cats (Felis catus) (8%).
