Conservation and restoration of degraded insular biodiversity: impacts of the removal of introduced mammals on the dynamics of infectious diseases in seabirds across islands of the Southern Ocean
Partners
National Nature Reserve of the French Southern Lands
Marine and Environmental Sciences (MARE), ISPA - University Institute
Bird Life International
Falklands Conservation
Institute for Coastal and Marine Research, Nelson Madela University
Seabird Conservation Programme, Bird Life South Africa
FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town
Abstract
Invasive species are one of the main threats to biodiversity, and species most susceptible to invade inhabit marine islands which were home to >90% of the bird species that have gone extinct over the last 500 years. Island ecosystems are unique and particularly vulnerable to invasive species, disease spread and other threats. Relatively recently, a momentum has been building worldwide to control the spread of introduced species, develop protocols to decrease the risk of introducing new species, and, when possible, eradicate invasive alien species. In the Southern Ocean, the impact of these threats on Antarctic and sub-Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems is particularly exacerbated by environmental change. Ambitious restoration projects based on the eradication of introduced mammal species from islands (such as rats, mice and cats) are being implemented, but they very rarely consider the potential role of pathogens as a threat to native seabirds, despite their potential importance. In this context, project REMOVE_DISEASE aims at exploring the impact of the eradication of introduced species on the dynamics of pathogens and biodiversity on islands.