Search the SPREP Catalogue

Advanced Search
Refine Search Results

Tags / Keywords

Publication Year

Available Online

Tags / Keywords

Publication Year

Available Online

45906 result(s) found.

Sort by

New Zealand island restoration: seabirds, predators, and the importance of history
BRB
Available Online

Peter J Bellingham ? David R Towns ? Ewen K Cameron ? Joe J Davis ? David A Wardle ? Janet M Wilmshurst ? Christa P H Mulder

New Zealand’s offshore and outlying islands have long been a focus of conservation biology as sites of local endemism and as last refuges for many species. During the c. 730 years since New Zealand has been settled by people, mammalian predators have invaded many islands and caused local and global extinctions. New Zealand has led international efforts in island restoration. By the late 1980s, translocations of threatened birds to predator-free islands were well under way to safeguard against extinction. Non-native herbivores and predators, such as goats and cats, had been eradicated from some islands. A significant development in island restoration in the mid-1980s was the eradication of rats from small forested islands. This eradication technology has been refined and currently at least 65 islands, including large and remote Campbell (11 216 ha) and Raoul (2938 ha) Islands, have been successfully cleared of rats. Many of New Zealand’s offshore islands, especially those without predatory mammals, are home to large numbers of breeding seabirds. Seabirds influence ecosystem processes on islands by enhancing soil fertility and through soil disturbance by burrowing. Predators, especially rats, alter ecosystem processes and cause population reductions or extinctions of native animals and plants. Islands have been promoted as touchstones of a primaeval New Zealand, but we are now increasingly aware that most islands have been substantially modified since human settlement of New Zealand. Archaeological and palaeoecological investigations, together with the acknowledgement that many islands have been important mahinga kai (sources of food) for M?ori, have all led to a better understanding of how people have modified these islands. Restoration technology may have vaulted ahead of our ability to predict the ecosystem consequences of its application on islands. However, research is now being directed to help make better decisions about restoration and management of islands, decisions that take account of island history and key drivers of island ecosystem functioning.
"In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings": Woodlands in an agricultural mateix maintain functionality of a wintering bird community.
Available Online

Goswami V R

,

Nam Sylem B L

,

Vsudev D

2018
The agricultural matrix has increasingly been recognized for its potential to supplement Pro-tected Areas (PAs) in biodiversity conservation. This potential is highly contextual, depending on composition and spatial configuration of matrix elements and their mechanistic relationship with biological communities. We investigate the effects of local vegetation structure, and proximity to a PA on the site-use of different guilds in a wintering bird community within the PA, and in wooded land-use types in the surrounding matrix. We used occupancy models to estimate covariate–guild relationships and predict site-use. We also compared species richness (estimated through capture–recapture models) and species naïve site-use between the PA and the matrix to evaluate taxonomic changes. We found that tree cover did not limit the site- use of most guilds of the community, probably due to high canopy cover across all chosen sites. Exceptions to this were guilds comprising generalist species. Shrub cover and bamboo cover had important effects on some woodland-ass ociated guilds, suggesting a change in limiting factors for site-use under adequate tree cover. Site-use across the matrix was high for all analyzed guilds. This was found to be due to three non-exclusive reasons: (i) presence of one or more ubiquitous species (found all across the landscape) within some guilds, (ii)redun-dancy of species within guilds that buffered against a decrease in site-use, and (iii) turn over in guild composition/abundances to more generalist species from PA to matrix. Estimated species richness was higher in the matrix (107 11; mean SE) than in the PA (90±7), which may have been in part due to the addition of generalist species in the matrix. Understanding factors that limit biological communities is crucial to better managing the ever-increasing matrix for biodiversity conservation. Our study provides insights into the effects of different components of vegetation structure on the bird community in wooded land-use types in the matrix. We highlight the value of woodlands surrounding PAs in maintaining multiple guilds, and hence, the functionality of a wintering bird community. However, we caution that the matrix may fall short in retaining some specialized species of the community.
Invasive ants as a biosecurity threat.
BRB
Available Online
2018
Invasive ants are a diverse group of aggressive, competitive, dominating ant species that can rapidly establish and spread. Several ant species are amongst the most serious global invasive species. Their broad diets, nesting habits, ability to breed rapidly, high densitites and adaptibility to varied habitats make them excellent invaders. Agricultural economic, environmental and social wellbeing are threatened by these ants, many of which have been introduced to, and established in, many countries
Seabirds enhance coral reef productivity and functioning in the absence of invasive rats
BRB
Available Online

Carr, Peter.

,

Graham, Nicholas A. J.

,

Hoey, Andrew S.

,

Jennings, Simon.

,

MacNeil, M. Aaron

,

Wilson, Shaun K.

2018
Biotic connectivity between ecosystems can provide major transport of organic matter and nutrients, influencing ecosystem structure and productivity, yet the implications are poorly understood owing to human disruptions of natural flows. When abundant, seabirds feeding in the open ocean transport large quantities of nutrients onto islands, enhancing the productivity of island fauna and flora. Whether leaching of these nutrients back into the sea influences the productivity, structure and functioning of adjacent coral reef ecosystems is not known. Here we address this question using a rare natural experiment in the Chagos Archipelago, in which some islands are rat-infested and others are rat-free. We found that seabird densities and nitrogen deposition rates are 760 and 251 times higher, respectively, on islands where humans have not introduced rats. Consequently, rat-free islands had substantially higher nitrogen stable isotope (?15N) values in soils and shrubs, reflecting pelagic nutrient sources. These higher values of ?15N were also apparent in macroalgae, filter-feeding sponges, turf algae and fish on adjacent coral reefs. Herbivorous damselfish on reefs adjacent to the rat-free islands grew faster, and fish communities had higher biomass across trophic feeding groups, with 48% greater overall biomass. Rates of two critical ecosystem functions, grazing and bioerosion, were 3.2 and 3.8 times higher, respectively, adjacent to rat-free islands. Collectively, these results reveal how rat introductions disrupt nutrient flows among pelagic, island and coral reef ecosystems. Thus, rat eradication on oceanic islands should be a high conservation priority as it is likely to benefit terrestrial ecosystems and enhance coral reef productivity and functioning by restoring seabird-derived nutrient subsidies from large areas of ocean.
Eradicating Pacific rats (Rattus exulans) from Nu'utele and Nu'ulua Islands, Samoa - some of the challenges of operating in the tropcial Pacific
BRB
Available Online

Butler, D.J.

,

Tipamaa, F.T.

,

Tye, A.

,

Wylie, M.

2011
The restoration of the small offshore islands of Nu’utele (108ha) and Nu’ulua (25ha) has long been identified as a priority for biodiversity conservation in Samoa. The first step towards restoration was the aerial spreading of brodifacoum to eradicate Pacific rats (Rattus exulans) in August 2009. Procedures for the eradication followed those used in New Zealand and involved technical experts from that country. Particular challenges included a tight operational time-frame (two months), technical problems magnified by the remote location, variable reliability of weather forecasting,working with the local community, and mitigating rodenticide exposure risks for the friendly ground-dove (Gallicolumba stairi) (IUCN: vulnerable). Solutions to these challenges are discussed as guidance for similar projects in remote island locations. Follow-up monitoring between August 2009 and March 2010 indicated that the eradication had been successful, but Pacific rats were detected on Nu’utele in May 2011. Nu’ulua has yet to be rechecked in 2011. DNA analyses are being organised to determine if these rats are survivors or re-invaders.
uPOPs Prevention and Chemical Awareness: Considerations for Awareness-Raising Campaigns.
SPREP Publications, Waste Management and Pollution Control
Available Online

Richards E

2018
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are a group of toxic chemicals that can travel long distances through air and water, and accumulate in the fatty tissues of humans and other animals. They do not degrade quickly over time, and as a consequence, potentially expose people to serious health issues including cancer, birth defects and immune system impairments. Due to these concerns, POPs are regulated by the Stockholm Convention on POPs, a global multilateral environmental agreement that requires Parties to take action to eliminate or restrict the production, use and environmental release of POPs. The Stockholm Convention (www.pops.int) entered into force on 17th May 2004, and it currently regulates 28 POPs, which can be classified into two categories...
Tuvalu National Action Plan to reduce releases of Unintentional Persistent Organic Pollutants 2018-2022
Waste Management and Pollution Control
Available Online
2018
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are toxic chemicals that can travel long distances through air and water, and accumulate in the fatty tissues of humans and other animals. These POPs do not degrade quickly over time, and consequently, potentially expose people to serious health issues including cancer, birth defects and immune system impairments. As a result of anthropogenic releases of POPs to the environment since the 1940s, POPs are now widely distributed over large regions, including the Pacific Island
Flooding in the Fiji Islands between 1840 and 2009.
Available Online

Devi, Swastika

,

McGree, Simon

,

Yeo W, Stephen

2010
Flooding is a regular occurrence in the Fiji Islands. Floods bring some benefits such as increasing the fertility of floodplains. But floods have caused a great deal of damage to buildings, infrastructure, agriculture and livelihoods, and many people have drowned
Biophysically special, unique marine areas of Fiji.
Available Online
2018
Fiji is committed to, and is embarking upon, a process to significantly increase the number and coverage of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) within the country.
Socioeconomic factors that affect the sustainable use of natural resources in rural communities in Fiji.
Environmental Governance
Available Online

Fox, M

,

Gernez, E

,

Jupiter, S

,

Kim, MK

,

Mangubhai, S

2017
Local communities in the Pacific have a high dependence on their natural resources for food and livelihoods. Managing small-scale fisheries resources through locally-managed marine areas (LMMAs) is an approach that has been scaled up to cover seventy-eight percent of inshore community fishing grounds in Fiji.

www.sprep.org © 2021 - 2026. All rights reserved

Login