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Rabbits, landslips and vegetation change on the coastal slopes of subantarctic Macquarie Island, 1980–2007: implications for management

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Abstract

Subantarctic tall tussock grassland and megaherb vegetation has been massively affected by feral herbivores on islands where both occur. The effects of rabbits in this vegetation on Macquarie Island were monitored using 66 permanent quadrats and numerous photo-points on the steep coastal slopes of the island from 1980 to 2007. Vegetation change after landslips was also monitored. At the start of this period rabbit numbers plummeted due to the introduction of myxoma virus, but then increased from the late 1990s. Over the years of reduced rabbit numbers, some recovery of tall tussock grassland took place. With the resurgence in rabbit numbers, successional patterns converged towards a uniform pattern of degraded vegetation with more bare ground. The patterns of vegetation change indicate that recovery of the vegetation, after eradication of rabbits, rats and mice, is likely to be rapid where degradation is recent and where seed sources are in close proximity. The exotic plant species currently on the island are unlikely to present a problem.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service for permission to visit the island, and the Australian Antarctic Division for project and logistic support, and for funding assistance under ASAC Project 2317, over the many years of visits for this project. Thanks to those who helped JJS in the field on various occasions and discussed at length the issues of rabbits and vegetation; to all the Parks rangers who have taken part in the photo-monitoring work; to Rowan Trebilco for allowing us to analyse his set of offshore coastal images of the southwest coast; and to Justine Shaw, Keith Springer and Ian Houshold for helpful comments on drafts of this paper. Many thanks to the referees; Maj de Poorter provided useful comment from a conservation perspective, and two anonymous referees gave perceptive and valuable comment on the analyses and other aspects.

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  1. School of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 78, Hobart, 7001, Australia

    J. J. Scott & J. B. Kirkpatrick

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  1. J. J. Scott
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  2. J. B. Kirkpatrick
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Correspondence to J. J. Scott.

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Scott, J.J., Kirkpatrick, J.B. Rabbits, landslips and vegetation change on the coastal slopes of subantarctic Macquarie Island, 1980–2007: implications for management. Polar Biol 31, 409–419 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-007-0367-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-007-0367-y

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