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Eradication of invasive vertebrates on islands has proven to be one of the most effective returns on investment for biodiversity conservation. To recover populations of the critically endangered Polynesian ground dove (Gallicolumba erythroptera), the endangered white-throated storm-petrel (Nesofregetta fuliginosa), the endangered Tuamotu sandpiper (Prosobonia cancellata) as well as other native plant and animal species, a project was undertaken to eradicate five species of invasive alien vertebrates: Pacific rat (Rattus exulans), ship rat (R. rattus), feral cat (Felis catus), rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and goat (Capra hircus), on six islands spanning 320 km of open ocean in the Tuamotu and Gambier Archipelagos of French Polynesia. Using a ship to deliver supplies and equipment, a helicopter for offloading and bait application, and ground teams for follow up trapping and hunting, invasive vertebrates were successfully removed from five of the six islands. Pacific rats survived at one site. The project was planned and executed by a partnership consisting of international and local conservation NGO’s, working together with local communities. Combining the different eradication operations into one expedition added complexity to project planning and implementation and increased the risk of the operation failing on any one island but generated greater returns on investment allowing six islands to be targeted at significantly less cost than if each island had been completed individually. An extensive and thorough planning effort, effective relationships with local stakeholders and communities, a good operational strategy and a partnership of stakeholders that each brought complementary capacities to the project contributed to its success.

The control of invasive species would be enhanced through the addition of novel, more effective and sustainable pest management methods. One control option yet to be trialled in the field is to deploy transgene-based ‘Gene Drives’: technologies which force the inheritance of a genetic construct through the gene pool of a wild population, suppressing it or replacing it with a less harmful form. There is considerable interest in applying gene drives to currently intractable invasives across a broad taxonomic range. However, not all species will make efficient or safe targets for these technologies. Additionally, the safety and efficacy of these systems will vary according to where they are deployed, the specific molecular design chosen, and how these factors interact with the ecology of the target pest. Given the transformative but also controversial nature of gene drives, it is imperative that their first field trials are able to successfully demonstrate that they can be used safely and efficiently. Here, we discuss how to maximise the probability of this outcome through considering three important questions: What types of invasive species should we use to trial gene drives? Where should we be trialling them? and How should these trials be conducted? In particular, we focus on the ecological, genetic and geographic features of small, isolated islands which make them ideal locations for these initial trials. A case study of an island invasive that is deemed highly appropriate for gene drive intervention, and for which gene drive development is currently underway (Mus musculus), is used to further explore these concepts

Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) are sites that contribute significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity. The criteria used to identify KBAs incorporate elements of biodiversity across genetic, species and ecosystem levels, and are applicable to terrestrial, freshwater, marine and subterranean systems.

The Governance Assessment for Protected Areas and Conserved Areas (GAPA) methodology manual is the product of four years’ work

The ocean on which Earth depends for relatively predictable weather, temperature and provisioning of goods and services is now changing more rapidly than it has for millions of years.

Invasive snakes can lead to the rapid extinction of endemic vertebrates on insular ecosystems, usually because snakes are an efficient and novel predator. There have been no successful (i.e. complete) eradications to date of invasive snakes on islands. In this study we assess a novel invasion on Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands. The invader, the California king snake (Lampropeltis californiae), arrived from California via several generations in the pet trade. King snakes are captive bred for various phenotypes, and first were detected in the wild on Gran Canaria in the 1990s. Because very little natural history data exist from within their native range, we focused on developing datasets from native habitats to compare with similar data for the introduced snakes in the Canary Islands. We found that most aspects of the snake’s life history have not changed since invasion, except that there appears to be a lower level of juvenile recruitment along with an increase in the length and body mass of adult snakes on Gran Canaria. We identified environmental parameters for when capture/trapping could be completed to reduce eff ort and maximize success. Additionally, we show different trap success on the various life stages of the snakes. Risk assessments could be required prior to permitting pet trade or allowing captive bred snakes into regions where they are not native.

The ladder snake (Rhinechis scalaris) is a recent alien invasive species found on Formentera (83 km2), in the Balearic Archipelago (4,492 km2). It has been introduced in the last decade as cargo stowaway hidden within ornamental olive trees from the Iberian Peninsula, causing negative impacts on native fauna. This paper describes the methodology used to reduce the ladder snake population as a fi rst attempt since it was detected in 2006. For this purpose, an experimental live-trap was designed by the wildlife management team of the Consorci per a la Recuperació de la Fauna de les Illes Balears (COFIB) during the 2016 campaign. As a result, 314 R. scalaris were trapped in an area of 472 ha, achieving an effi ciency of up to 0.167 captures per trap and night, and 0.040 captures per unit eff ort on average. This outcome encourages the use of the live-trap as a cost-eff ective method for reducing the snake population in Formentera. Nonetheless, this method should be considered a starting point toward R. scalaris control.

The endemic-rich amphibian fauna of the Philippine Archipelago (ca. 350,000 km2) includes six alien frogs: the American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus), Asiatic painted toad (Kaloula pulchra), cane toad (Rhinella marina), Chinese bullfrog (Hoplobatrachus rugulosus), green paddy frog (Hylarana erythraea), and greenhouse frog (Eleutherodactylus planirostris). The chronological history of their invasion across the Philippines was reconstructed based on historical and geographic data. Subsequently, we estimated their current and potential distribution through species distribution modelling and Gaussian kernel density smoothing species distribution data. Seven known and potential pathways of introduction into and spread throughout the Philippines were identifi ed, namely, intentional introduction as a (1) biocontrol agent and (2) food source; contamination of (3) agriculture trade, (4) aquaculture trade, and (5) ornamental plant trade; (6) stowaway of cargo; and (7) through the exotic pet trade. Spatio-temporal patterns of distribution showed a stratifi ed diff usion process of spread wherein human-mediated jum dispersal is the primary mode followed by diff usion dispersal. The status of the American bullfrog in the Philippines is unresolved, whether it has successfully established. Meanwhile, the other five alien frogs have established populations in the wild, typically the dominant species in both artificial and disturbed habitats, and are continuously spreading throughout the Philippines. Estimates of current and potential distribution indicate that none of the alien frogs has realised its full potential distribution and that the cane toad is the most widespread, occurring in almost all major islands of the Philippines (ca. 85%), while the greenhouse frog is the least distributed, being found so far in eight provinces and on seven islands. In light of these findings, we provide policy and management recommendations for responding to current and future alien frog invasions.

After decades of biodiversity loss and economic burden caused by the brown treesnake invasion on the Pacific island of Guam, relief hovers on the horizon. Previous work by USDA Wildlife Services (WS) and its National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC) demonstrated that brown treesnake numbers in forested habitats can be dramatically suppressed by aerial delivery of dead newborn mouse (DNM) baits treated with 80 mg of acetaminophen. However, manual bait preparation and application is impractical for landscape-scale treatment. WS, NWRC, and the US Department of the Interior have collaborated with Applied Design Corporation to engineer an automated bait manufacturing and delivery system. The core technology is an aerially delivered biodegradable “bait cartridge” designed to tangle in the tree canopy, making the acetaminophen bait available to treesnakes and out of reach of terrestrial non-target organisms. When mounted on a rotary- or fixed-wing airframe, the automated dispensing module (ADM) unit can broadcast 3,600 bait cartridges at a rate of four per second and can treat 30 hectares of forest at a density of 120 acetaminophen baits per hectare within 15 minutes of fi ring time. We conducted the first in situ evaluation of the ADM in July 2016. Initial acetaminophen bait deployment rates (proper opening of the bait cartridge for canopy entanglement) were low, and mechanism jams were frequent due to internal friction and wind forces; on-site remedial engineering improved these performance measures. Bait cartridge placement and spacing were accurate (average 8.9 m along 9 m swaths) under various flight heights and speeds. Canopy entanglement of properly-deployed acetaminophen baits was high (66.6%). Although only a small proportion (5.9%) of radio transmitter-equipped acetaminophen baits were confirmed to have been taken by brown treesnakes, the baiting density was high enough to make it likely that a significant proportion of brown treesnakes in the area had taken acetaminophen baits. With subsequent improvements in system reliability, the automated bait cartridge manufacturing and delivery system is poised to transition from research and development to operational field implementation. Applications include reduction of brown treesnake numbers around transportation infrastructure and within core habitats for the reintroduction of native birds extirpated by this troublesome invasive predator.

Despite the presence of invasive black rats (Rattus rattus), common mynas (Acridotheres tristis), and feral domestic cats (Felis catus), sooty terns (Onychoprion fuscatus) breed in large numbers on Ascension Island in the tropical South Atlantic Ocean. These introduced predators impact the terns by destroying eggs or interrupting incubation (mynas), eating eggs (mynas and rats), eating chicks (rats and cats), or eating adults (cats). Between 1990 and 2015, 26 censuses of sooty terns and five of mynas were completed and myna predation was monitored on 10 occasions. Rat relative abundance indices were determined through trapping around the tern colonies and rat predation was monitored by counting chick carcasses. Cat predation was quantified by recording freshly killed terns. Prior to their eradication in 2003, cats had the greatest impact on sooty terns and were depredating 5,800 adults and 3,600 near-fledging chicks (equivalent to the loss of 71,000 eggs) each breeding season. We estimated that 26,000 sooty tern eggs (13% of all those laid) were depredated by approximately 1,000 mynas. Rats were not known to depredate sooty terns prior to cat eradication but in 2005, 131 of 596 ringed (monitored) chicks (22%) were depredated by rats. In 2009 chick carcass density was 0.16 per m2. Predation by rats hugely increased in the absence of cats and was the equivalent of 69,000 eggs. Care is needed when applying our findings to seabirds globally. The scarcity of alternative food sources and seasonally high density of easily available prey in the sooty tern colony may have magnified predation by cats, rats and mynas.