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Introduced rats indirectly change marine rocky intertidal communities from algae- to invertebrate-dominated
Island and Ocean Ecosystems, BRB
Available Online

Croll, Donald A.

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Kurle, Carolyn M.

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Tershy, Bernie R.

2008
It is widely recognized that trophic interactions structure ecological communities, but their effects are usually only demonstrated on a small scale. As a result, landscape-level documentations of trophic cascades that alter entire communities are scarce. Islands invaded by animals provide natural experiment opportunities both to measure general trophic effects across large spatial scales and to etermine the trophic roles of invasive species within native ecosystems. Studies addressing the trophic interactions of invasive species most often focus on their direct effects. To investigate both the presence of a landscape-level trophic cascade and the direct and indirect effects of an invasive species, we examined the impacts of Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) introduced to the Aleutian Islands on marine bird densities and marine rocky intertidal community structures through surveys conducted on invaded and rat-free islands throughout the entire 1,900-km archipelago. Densities of birds that forage in the intertidal were higher on islands without rats. Marine intertidal invertebrates were more abundant on islands with rats, whereas fleshy algal cover was reduced. Our results demonstrate that invasive rats directly reduce bird densities through predation and significantly affect invertebrate and marine algal abundance in the rocky intertidal indirectly via a cross-community trophic cascade, unexpectedly changing the intertidal community structure from an algae- to an invertebrate-dominated system.
Current state of knowledge of Cetacean Threats, Diversity and Habitats in the Pacific Islands Region / by Cara Miller
Climate Change Resilience, Island and Ocean Ecosystems
Available Online

Miller, Cara

2007
This report provides an overview of the current state of knowledge of cetacean diversity, habitat and threats in the Pacifi c Islands Region. The boundaries of the Pacifi c Islands Region (Chapter 1), as defi ned by the Convention of Migratory Species (CMS) Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the Conservation of Cetaceans and their Habitats in the Pacifi c Islands Region (CMS 2006), are the marine areas under the jurisdiction of each Country or Territory of the Pacifi c Islands Region, and extend to the area defi ned by the Noumea Convention, i.e., between the Tropic of Cancer and 60° South latitude, and between 130° East longitude and 120° West longitude. The region stretches over some 10,000 kilometres from east to west and 5,000 kilometres from north to south, with a combined economic exclusion zone (EEZ) of approximately 30 million km². This region contains 22 Pacifi c Island Countries and Territories, as well as a portion of the Australian continent, both the North and South Islands of New Zealand, and a portion of the Hawaiian Islands. The region is purported to hold the most extensive and biologically diverse reefs in the world, the deepest ocean trenches, the world’s largest tuna fi shery, as well as a range of globally threatened species such as sea turtles, dugongs and cetaceans (UNDP 1999)