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On the verge of a biological crisis: the state of invasive species in the Pacific

Island and Ocean Ecosystems, BRB

Available Online

Cas Vanderwoude

A report prepared by the Invasive Partnership for the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting, Palau July 2014 as requested by the Micronesian Chief Executives in Resolution 19-01

Did you know - Ship Rats

Available Online

National Environment Service Tuanga Tapooporo Cook Islands

Ship rats (rattus rattus) is the only species of rat not found on Atiu.

Feasibility Assessment for the Removal of Pacific Rats (Rattus exulans) from Late Island. Reports 1 & 2

Bonham, J.

Griffiths, R.

Island Conservation

A Breath of Fresh Air

Island and Ocean Ecosystems, BRB

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Rat Destruction in Pacific Islands

Island and Ocean Ecosystems, BRB

Wilson, E.J.

Tuvalu national biodiversity strategy and action plan: fifth national report to the convention on biological diversity.

Available Online

Alefaio, S

Falega, E

Penivao, F

Saitala, M

Teakau, F

Tekenene, M

Thaman, R

The isolated, small, low-lying resource-poor atolls of Tuvalu are clearly on the frontline against climate change, the escalating impacts natural disasters and declining food, health and energy security.

Predator-Free Rakiura. An economic appraisal.

Available Online

Morgan, Gareth

Simmons, Geoff

This report estimates the benefits of making Rakiura and surrounding islands predator free. The proposal is to do this in two phases, starting with the Halfmoon Bay area (denoted in this report as HMB) before progressing to the rest of the island (denoted in this report as full).

The Ecology of Rodents in the Tonga Islands

Available Online

Twibell, John

The influence on crop damage of Rattus norvegicus, Rattus rattus, and the native Polynesian rat, Rattus exulans, was studied during the establishment of a rat control program for the Tongan Department of Agriculture in 1969. This was the first long-term study of Tongan rodents. Previous scientific literature on Tongan mammals is very sparse. The Kingdom of Tonga, or Friendly Islands, consists of approximately 150 small islands with a combined area of about 256 square miles at lat 21 0 S. The majority of these islands are composed of raised coral limestone ; however, there is a row of six volcanic islands on Tonga's western border. Tongatapu, the location of the government center, is the largest and most important island. The Ha'apai island group lies 80 miles north of Tongatapu, and 150 miles north is the Vava'u group. Fiji is 420 nautical miles east and Samoa is 480 miles north. The climate is tropical and is influenced seasonally by trade winds. Since Captain Cook's first visit in 1773, Western civilization has brought trade, missionaries, and perhaps rats to Tonga. With this shipping came numerous introduced plants and animals. The arrival dates for the common rat, Rattus norvegicus, and the "European" roof rat, Rattus rattus, are not known, but are believed to be more recent, probably since the increase of regular shipping trade and the construction of wharves. Presently rodents account for approximately 20 percent of the agricultural losses and $50,000 worth of economic loss each year (Twibell, unpublished). This is a conservative estimate based on damage counts and observation. In some areas rats destroy or damage up to 50 percent of the coconuts, which represent the main economic crop in Tonga. THE INFLUENCE on crop damage of Rattus norvegicus, Rattus rattus, and the native Polynesian rat, Rattus exulans, was studied during the establishment of a rat control program for the Tongan Department of Agriculture in 1969. This was the first long-term study of Tongan rodents. Previous scientific literature on Tongan mammals is very sparse. The Kingdom of Tonga, or Friendly Islands, consists of approximately 150 small islands with a combined area of about 256 square miles at lat 21 0 S. The majority of these islands are composed of raised coral limestone ; however, there is a row of six volcanic islands on Tonga's western border. Tongatapu, the location of the government center, is the largest and most important island. The Ha'apai island group lies 80 miles north of Tongatapu, and 150 miles north is the Vava'u group. Fiji is 420 nautical miles east and Samoa is 480 miles north. The climate is tropical and is influenced seasonally by trade winds. Since Captain Cook's first visit in 1773, Western civilization has brought trade, missionaries, and perhaps rats to Tonga. With this shipping came numerous introduced plants and animals. The arrival dates for the common rat, Rattus norvegicus, and the "European" roof rat, Rattus rattus, are not known, but are believed to be more recent, probably since the increase of regular shipping trade and the construction of wharves. Presently rodents account for approximately 20 percent of the agricultural losses and $50,000 worth of economic loss each year (Twibell, unpublished). This is a conservative estimate based on damage counts and observation. In some areas rats destroy or damage up to 50 percent of the coconuts, which represent the main economic crop in Tonga.

Predation pressures on sooty terns by cats, rats and common mynas on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic

Island and Ocean Ecosystems, BRB

Available Online

Dickey, R.C.

Hughes, B.J.

Reynolds, S.J.

Despite the presence of invasive black rats (Rattus rattus), common mynas (Acridotheres tristis), and feral domestic cats (Felis catus), sooty terns (Onychoprion fuscatus) breed in large numbers on Ascension Island in the tropical South Atlantic Ocean. These introduced predators impact the terns by destroying eggs or interrupting incubation (mynas), eating eggs (mynas and rats), eating chicks (rats and cats), or eating adults (cats). Between 1990 and 2015, 26 censuses of sooty terns and five of mynas were completed and myna predation was monitored on 10 occasions. Rat relative abundance indices were determined through trapping around the tern colonies and rat predation was monitored by counting chick carcasses. Cat predation was quantified by recording freshly killed terns. Prior to their eradication in 2003, cats had the greatest impact on sooty terns and were depredating 5,800 adults and 3,600 near-fledging chicks (equivalent to the loss of 71,000 eggs) each breeding season. We estimated that 26,000 sooty tern eggs (13% of all those laid) were depredated by approximately 1,000 mynas. Rats were not known to depredate sooty terns prior to cat eradication but in 2005, 131 of 596 ringed (monitored) chicks (22%) were depredated by rats. In 2009 chick carcass density was 0.16 per m2. Predation by rats hugely increased in the absence of cats and was the equivalent of 69,000 eggs. Care is needed when applying our findings to seabirds globally. The scarcity of alternative food sources and seasonally high density of easily available prey in the sooty tern colony may have magnified predation by cats, rats and mynas.

Eradication and control programmes for invasive mynas (Acridotheres spp.) and bulbuls (Pycnonotus spp.): defining best practice in managing invasive bird populations on oceanic islands

Island and Ocean Ecosystems, BRB

Available Online

Reynolds, S.J.

Saavedra Cruz, S.

Invasive plants and animals inflict much damage on native species and this is particularly the case on isolated oceanic islands with high degrees of endemism. Such islands commonly are important refugia for species of high conservation value. Some of the most pervasive and potent of invasive animal species are birds of the myna (Acridotheres) and bulbul (Pycnonotus) genera that historically were introduced to isolated islands as biological control agents for the management of insect pest species that can cause considerable economic damage to agricultural crops and wider ecosystems. In this paper we consider a number of successful eradication and control programmes targeting mynas and bulbuls. We review the locations and taxa where 17 such programmes took place and report that the common myna (Acridotheres tristis) has been the most heavily targeted species in eradication eff orts followed by the red-whiskered bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus). Common mynas were also at the focus of control programmes as were jungle mynas (Acridotheres fuscus) and red-vented bulbuls (Pycnonotus cafer). By far the most favoured method of eradication and control was trapping whereas mist-netting was employed rarely. We discuss best practice in planning and executing such eradication and control programmes on oceanic islands so as to maximise their benefits to local human communities. We outline measures that must be adopted pre-, during and post-intervention in both programme types. They include adequate resourcing, local engagement and the integration of both traditional ecological knowledge and established conservation theory.

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