Conservation and restoration of plant–animal mutualisms on oceanic islands

Kaiser‐Bunbury, Christopher N.; Traveset, Anna; Hansen, Dennis M.

doi:10.1016/j.ppees.2009.10.002

Cited by 185 publications

(216 citation statements)

References 158 publications

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“…Instead, our analysis summarizes insular frugivore extinctions across all three vertebrate classes (birds, mammals and reptiles). Although birds represent the majority of frugivore species on islands, reptiles such as lizards (Olesen and Valido 2003) and tortoises (Hansen and Galetti 2009) as well as mammals such as frugivorous bats (Whittaker and Jones 1994) also play a key role for animal-mediated seed dispersal on islands (Kaiser-Bunbury et al 2010). Within some archipelagos (e.g.…”

Section: Magnitude and Geographical Distribution Of Insular Frugivorementioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is partly due to their isolation and small size which accommodates a limited number of species and facilitates the evolution of unique species interactions (MacArthur and Wilson 1967, Kaiser-Bunbury et al 2010, Lomolino et al 2010. It makes island biota particularly vulnerable to global change, e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a consequence, many species have gone extinct on islands worldwide, especially on oceanic islands (Blackburn et al 2004, Steadman 2006, Hansen and Galetti 2009, Duncan et al 2013, Boyer and Jetz 2014, Whittaker et al 2017. The loss of these species from island ecosystems also means a loss of interactions among species, such as those between plants and frugivores (Meehan et al 2002, Kaiser-Bunbury et al 2010, Pérez-Méndez et al 2015.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Extinction‐driven changes in frugivore communities on oceanic islands

et al. 2017

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Global change and human expansion have resulted in many species extinctions worldwide, but the geographic variation and determinants of extinction risk in particular guilds still remain little explored. Here, we quantified insular extinctions of frugivorous vertebrates (including birds, mammals and reptiles) across 74 tropical and subtropical oceanic islands within 20 archipelagos worldwide and investigated extinction in relation to island characteristics (island area, isolation, elevation and climate) and species' functional traits (body mass, diet and ability to fly). Out of the 74 islands, 33 islands (45%) have records of frugivore extinctions, with one third (mean: 34%, range: 2-100%) of the pre-extinction frugivore community being lost. Geographic areas with more than 50% loss of pre-extinction species richness include islands in the Pacific (within Hawaii, Cook Islands and Tonga Islands) and the Indian Ocean (Mascarenes, Seychelles). The proportion of species richness lost from original pre-extinction communities is highest on small and isolated islands, increases with island elevation, but is unrelated to temperature or precipitation. Large and flightless species had higher extinction probability than small or volant species. Across islands with extinction events, a pronounced downsizing of the frugivore community is observed, with a strong extinction-driven reduction of mean body mass (mean: 37%, range: -18-100%) and maximum body mass (mean: 51%, range: 0-100%). The results document a substantial trophic downgrading of frugivore communities on oceanic islands worldwide, with a non-random pattern in relation to geography, island characteristics and species' functional traits. This implies severe consequences for ecosystem processes that depend on mutualistic plant-animal interactions, including ecosystem dynamics that result from the dispersal of large-seeded plants by large-bodied frugivores. We suggest that targeted conservation and rewilding efforts on islands are needed to halt the defaunation of large and non-volant seed dispersers and to restore frugivore communities and key ecological interactions.

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Section: Magnitude and Geographical Distribution Of Insular Frugivorementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Extinction‐driven changes in frugivore communities on oceanic islands

et al. 2017

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“…However, the generality of this is still under debate, and our knowledge of the mechanisms underlying the integration of alien species into native networks and their subsequent impact is still limited. Network analysis is a highly valuable tool in our effort to understand this process of integration, and to plan robust conservation and restoration strategies [10,18,20]. A number of network metrics can inform us about the ability of communities to respond to various kinds of environmental perturbations, and may easily be incorporated into conservation monitoring [20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Invaders of pollination networks in the Galápagos Islands: emergence of novel communities

et al. 2013

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The unique biodiversity of most oceanic archipelagos is currently threatened by the introduction of alien species that can displace native biota, disrupt native ecological interactions, and profoundly affect community structure and stability. We investigated the threat of aliens on pollination networks in the species-rich lowlands of five Galápagos Islands. Twenty per cent of all species (60 plants and 220 pollinators) in the pooled network were aliens, being involved in 38 per cent of the interactions. Most aliens were insects, especially dipterans (36%), hymenopterans (30%) and lepidopterans (14%). These alien insects had more links than either endemic pollinators or non-endemic natives, some even acting as island hubs. Aliens linked mostly to generalized species, increasing nestedness and thus network stability. Moreover, they infiltrated all seven connected modules (determined by geographical and phylogenetic constraints) of the overall network, representing around 30 per cent of species in two of them. An astonishingly high proportion (38%) of connectors, which enhance network cohesiveness, was also alien. Results indicate that the structure of these emergent novel communities might become more resistant to certain type of disturbances (e.g. species loss), while being more vulnerable to others (e.g. spread of a disease). Such notable changes in network structure as invasions progress are expected to have important consequences for native biodiversity maintenance.

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“…Such 'rewilding', whereby exotic species are introduced into ecosystems they have not previously occupied to serve as ecological substitutes for extinct taxa, remains controversial [24][25][26]; however, islands, such as those comprising New Zealand, have become a key target for rewilding projects [23,26,27]. Some have advocated reintroducing moa 'reconstructed' from ancient DNA [28,29].…”

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confidence: 99%

Moa diet fits the bill: virtual reconstruction incorporating mummified remains and prediction of biomechanical performance in avian giants

et al. 2016

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The moa (Dinornithiformes) are large to gigantic extinct terrestrial birds of New Zealand. Knowledge about niche partitioning, feeding mode and preference among moa species is limited, hampering palaeoecological reconstruction and evaluation of the impacts of their extinction on remnant native biota, or the viability of exotic species as proposed ecological 'surrogates'. Here we apply three-dimensional finite-element analysis to compare the biomechanical performance of skulls from five of the six moa genera, and two extant ratites, to predict the range of moa feeding behaviours relative to each other and to living relatives. Mechanical performance during biting was compared using simulations of the birds clipping twigs based on muscle reconstruction of mummified moa remains. Other simulated food acquisition strategies included lateral shaking, pullback and dorsoventral movement of the skull. We found evidence for limited overlap in biomechanical performance between the extant emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) and extinct upland moa (Megalapteryx didinus) based on similarities in mandibular stress distribution in two loading cases, but overall our findings suggest that moa species exploited their habitats in different ways, relative to both each other and extant ratites. The broad range of feeding strategies used by moa, as inferred from interspecific differences in biomechanical performance of the skull, provides insight into mechanisms that facilitated high diversities of these avian herbivores in prehistoric New Zealand.

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Conservation and restoration of plant–animal mutualisms on oceanic islands

Cited by 185 publications

References 158 publications

Extinction‐driven changes in frugivore communities on oceanic islands

Extinction‐driven changes in frugivore communities on oceanic islands

Invaders of pollination networks in the Galápagos Islands: emergence of novel communities

Moa diet fits the bill: virtual reconstruction incorporating mummified remains and prediction of biomechanical performance in avian giants

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