Prioritizing eradication actions on islands: it's not all or nothing

Helmstedt, Kate J.; Shaw, Justine; Bode, M. F.; Terauds, Aleks; Springer, Keith; Robinson, Susan; Possingham, Hugh P.

doi:10.1111/1365-2664.12599

Cited by 40 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 40 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Brooke et al , Capizzi et al , Holmes et al ). Prioritising conservation actions can be a strategic tool and a useful guide for managers, conservationists, and politicians, allowing them to convey limited resources to the worthiest restoration projects (Wilson et al , Helmstedt et al ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of mammal eradications on Mediterranean islands

Capizzi¹

2020

Mammal Review

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Impacts of alien invasive species on island communities and ecosystems may be even more detrimental than on the mainland. Therefore, since the 1950s, hundreds of restoration projects have been implemented worldwide, with the aim of controlling or eradicating alien species from islands. To date, no review has been focused on eradication on Mediterranean islands. To fill the gap, I reviewed the available information concerning mammal eradications so far carried out on Mediterranean islands, examining the details of several aspects of project implementation and monitoring. I obtained data for 139 attempted eradications on 107 Mediterranean islands in eight countries, with Greece, Italy, and Spain accounting for the highest number. Eradication projects targeted 13 mammal species. The black rat Rattus rattus was the target of over 75% of the known attempted eradications in the Mediterranean Basin; other species targeted were feral goat Capra hircus, house mouse Mus musculus, European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus, and domestic cat Felis catus. The most widely adopted technique was poisoning (77% of all eradications), followed by trapping (15%) and hunting (4%). However, techniques were largely target‐specific. The average failure rate was about 11%. However, this percentage varied according to the specific mammalian order, and eradications of Carnivora failed more often than those of other mammals. Among rodents, house mouse eradication attained a very high failure rate (75%). Reinvasion occurred after 15% of successful eradications. A better understanding of the motivations of animal rights activists may improve the chance of success when eradicating charismatic or domesticated species. Furthermore, it is crucial to collect data and case studies about reinvasions, in order to strengthen biosecurity programmes following eradication. As in other parts of the world, the next frontier in alien mammal management on Mediterranean islands concerns the eradication of invasive species from inhabited islands.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of mammal eradications on Mediterranean islands

Capizzi¹

2020

Mammal Review

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Such multiple operations are becoming increasingly feasible (Russell, 2011), and may have the additional advantage of reducing the chance of such effects as competitor or mesopredator release (Courchamp, Langlais & Sugihara, 1999;Caut et al, 2007;Dilley et al, 2016). The possibility of such outcomes should be evaluated on a caseby-case basis (see Helmstedt et al, 2016), ideally with eradication planning considering responses in a whole-ecosystem context (Zavaleta, Hobbs & Mooney, 2001).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seabird population changes following mammal eradications on islands

Brooke

Bonnaud

Dilley

et al. 2017

Animal Conservation

101

133

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Seabirds are among the most threatened groups of birds, and predation by invasive mammals is one of the most acute threats at their island breeding stations. Island restoration projects increasingly involve the eradication of invasive non-native mammals, with benefits for seabirds and other island fauna. To date, demonstrated benefits of invasive mammal eradication include increased seabird nesting success and enhanced adult survival. However, the recovery dynamics of seabird populations have not been documented. Drawing on data from across the world, we assemble population growth rates (k) of 181 seabird populations of 69 species following successful eradication projects. After successful eradication, the median growth rate was 1.119 and populations with positive growth (k > 1; n = 151) greatly outnumbered those in decline (k < 1; n = 23, and seven showed no population change). Population growth was faster (1) at newly established colonies compared to those already established, (2) in the first few years after eradication, (3) among gulls and terns compared to other seabird groups, and (4) when several invasive mammals were eradicated together in the course of the restoration project. The first two points suggest immigration is important for colony growth, the third point reflects the relative lack of philopatry among gulls and terns while the fourth reinforces current best practise, the removal of all invasive mammals where feasible.

show abstract

“…; Helmstedt et al . ) would significantly enhance levels of biodiversity protection warranted by net ecosystem service value.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

To what extent can ecosystem services motivate protecting biodiversity?

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Society increasingly focuses on managing nature for the services it provides people rather than for the existence of particular species. How much biodiversity protection would result from this modified focus? Although biodiversity contributes to ecosystem services, the details of which species are critical, and whether they will go functionally extinct in the future, are fraught with uncertainty. Explicitly considering this uncertainty, we develop an analytical framework to determine how much biodiversity protection would arise solely from optimising net value from an ecosystem service. Using stochastic dynamic programming, we find that protecting a threshold number of species is optimal, and uncertainty surrounding how biodiversity produces services makes it optimal to protect more species than are presumed critical. We define conditions under which the economically optimal protection strategy is to protect all species, no species, and cases in between. We show how the optimal number of species to protect depends upon different relationships between species and services, including considering multiple services. Our analysis provides simple criteria to evaluate when managing for particular ecosystem services could warrant protecting all species, given uncertainty. Evaluating this criterion with empirical estimates from different ecosystems suggests that optimising some services will be more likely to protect most species than others.

show abstract

Prioritizing eradication actions on islands: it's not all or nothing

Cited by 40 publications

References 40 publications

A review of mammal eradications on Mediterranean islands

A review of mammal eradications on Mediterranean islands

Seabird population changes following mammal eradications on islands

To what extent can ecosystem services motivate protecting biodiversity?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About