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Invasive rats are found on most island groups of the world, and usually more than one species has invaded. On tropical islands populations of different invasive rat species can co-exist on very small islands, but the population dynamics of such co-existing rat species, their impact on each other, and the mechanisms of coexistence are not well known. This lack of knowledge is a barrier to improving the success rate of tropical island rat eradications. Through an exhaustive trapping eradication campaign on a small tropical island, we study the population structure of historically established Rattus exulans where R. rattus have colonised within the last fifty years and over-invaded. We contrast this R. exulans population with a nearby island population where R. exulans exist alone. Recently invaded R. rattus numerically and morphologically dominate R. exulans; however stable isotope analyses show that the trophic position of R. exulans remains consistent regardless of the presence of R. rattus, once differences in trophic foundations of islands are accounted for. Although the trophic position of both rat species is indistinguishable, R. rattus is able to dominate R. exulans through interference competition. Our eradication attempt was interrupted by a tropical cyclone and ultimately unsuccessful, but there is some evidence that R. rattus reduced control device availability to R. exulans, which has important implications for multi-species control operations.

Islanders, especially in the Pacific region, have a strong relationship with the land and ocean so changes in climate can represent a threat not only to the physical environment but also to their culture and customs. Already, people living in Pacific Islands and East Timor are experiencing changes in their climate such as higher temperatures, shifts in rainfall patterns, changing frequencies of extreme events and rising sea levels. These changes are affecting peoples’ lives and livelihoods, as well as important industries such as agriculture and tourism. In recognition of this, leaders of the Pacific Island Countries and Territories developed the Pacific Islands Framework for Action on Climate Change 2006–2015 to guide the building of resilience to the risks and impacts of climate change.

In 2008, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reviewed the conservation status of cetacean populations worldwide. As a consequence of this review, the Oceania population of humpback whales has been re-classified from “Threatened” to “Endangered”. This is in recognition that, although humpback whales in many parts of the world are showing encouraging signs of recovery from whaling, most of the small breeding populations in the South Pacific remain at extremely low levels and some remain vulnerable to extinction. The Oceania region encompassed over 9,008,458 km² of ocean, 14 countries and 16 territories spread over both the South and North Pacific Oceans. However, for the purposed of this plan, the planning boundaries are proposed to be delineated by the known breeding range of the Southern Hemisphere humpback whale breading stocks which were reclassified to “Endnagered” recently by the IUCN (that is Breeding StocksE(ii & iii) and F (i & ii)) and cover the Exclusive Economic Zones which fall within this boundary.

There is a growing recognition that conservation strategies should be designed accounting for cross-realm connections, such as freshwater connections to land and sea, to ensure effectiveness of marine spatial protection and minimize perverse outcomes of changing land-use. Yet, examples of integration across realms are relatively scarce, with most targeting priorities in a single realm, such as marine or freshwater, while minimizing threats originating in terrestrial ecosystems. To date, no study has optimized priorities across multiple realms to produce a spatially explicit integrated conservation plan that simultaneously accounts for multiple human activities at a national scale. This represents a major gap in the application of existing cross-realm planning theory. We present a national scale conservation framework for selecting protected areas using a case study of Papua New Guinea (PNG) that integrates multiple systems and ecological connectivity to account for cross-realm benefits and minimize threats of land-use and climate change. The relative importance of both the forests and inshore reef environments to PNG subsistence and commercial livelihoods emphasizes the importance of considering the connections between the land and sea. The plan was commissioned by the PNG Conservation and Environment Protection Authority and identifies a comprehensive set of priorities that meet conservation targets in both the land and sea. Our national-scale prioritization framework is useful for agencies and managers looking to implement actions given multiple objectives, including watershed management and biodiversity protection, and ensures actions are efficient and effective across the land and sea.

A powerpoint presentation on the International Whaling Commission, delivered at the Whales in a Changing Ocean Conference, in Vava'u, Tonga.

The ocean drives the processes that make our planet capable of supporting life, and contains some of the world’s most complex and diverse ecosystems.1 But these ecosystems are increasingly under threat. Pollution, overfishing, offshore drilling and other human activities are destroying ocean habitat and threatening marine species, with profound consequences for the biodiversity on which the health of our ocean depends.2 A growing number of scientists and conservationists are coalescing around the goal of protecting at least 30 percent of the world’s ocean by 2030 through networks of marine protected areas (MPAs) – protected zones of ocean where extractive and destructive human activity is limited.

We humans heavily depend on nature the web of life, gives us food we eat, filters the water we drink, and supplies the air we breathe. Nature is important for our mental and physical well-being, as it is for our society's ability to cope with global change, health threats and disasters. We need nature in our lives!.

Keynote address for the Acting Prime Minister of Tonga, Hon. Siaosi 'O Sovaleni, at the Whale in a Changing Ocean Conference, Vava'u, Tonga

Low-cost, portable, observation-class, underwater remotely operated vehicles (microROVs), whichcan be transported and operated by a single user, are increasingly common tools in scientific,industrial, commercial, and recreational ocean application.