Abstract
For effective and efficient pest management it is essential to understand the ecology of the target species and recipient ecosystems. The use of rodent eradication as a restoration tool is well established in temperate regions, but less common in the tropics, presenting an opportunity to undertake scientific learning in tandem with rodent eradications. On a dry tropical archipelago, we used a Before-After-Control-Impact framework to document (1) fluctuations in the abundance and demography of invasive Rattus rattus and Mus musculus on three different islands, (2) the trophic niche of all three invasive rodent populations, and (3) changes in the invertebrate community before and after rodent eradication, also comparing with two rodent free islands. While rat density was high and relatively stable throughout the year, the two mouse populations greatly differed in body size and seasonal dynamics, despite their proximity. The rodents in all three populations were generalist and opportunistic feeders, although stable isotope analyses results indicated major differences among them, driven by food availability and rodent species. Seasonal fluctuations in invertebrate communities depended on rodent invasion status, but recovery in the invertebrate communities one year after rodent removal was limited for all islands. Predictions for other tropical ecosystem biomes require long-term research on more tropical islands. Improving our understanding of island and species-specific contexts of rodent eradications can advance island restoration projects and assist the selection of indicator species for ecosystem recovery.
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Acknowledgements
We dedicate this work to Dave Choquenot (1959–2015), who made major contributions to the conservation of the Mexican islands. The research and management projects are part of the National Island Restoration Program in which all of our colleagues at Grupo de Ecología y Conservación de Islas (GECI) in Mexico are actively involved. This program is funded thanks to collaborative efforts, both at the national and international level. Identification of invertebrates was kindly conducted by entomologist Griselda Montiel Parra (Instituto de Biología, UNAM, Mexico). We thank the island residents for their support and collaboration and Dr. Nuno Simoes (UNAM-UMDI) for all the help, equipment and contacts provided. All the volunteer students were exceptionally helpful. A.S.-H. thanks CONACYT for the doctoral scholarship and WWF for the EFN fellowship. We thank two anonymous reviewers for improving the manuscript.
Funding
Principal funding sources for the Arrecife Alacranes project were U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Packard Foundation. The National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP) and the Mexican Navy (SEMAR) provided valuable in-kind support which solved much of the logistics. The University of Auckland funded the stable isotope analysis. To all institutions we are most grateful for their sustained support.
Author contributions
A.S-H. designed and performed research and wrote the paper as PhD student; A.S-H. and J.R undertook statistical analyses. M.C., J.R. and A.A-M. supervised the research.
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Samaniego-Herrera, A., Clout, M.N., Aguirre-Muñoz, A. et al. Rodent eradications as ecosystem experiments: a case study from the Mexican tropics. Biol Invasions 19, 1761–1779 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-017-1388-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-017-1388-2