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Problematic Wildlife pp 205–227Cite as

Fifteen Years of Rat Eradication on Italian Islands

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Abstract

The black rat (Rattus rattus) is thought to be the most widespread mammal on Mediterranean islands. In recent years, many field studies have documented its detrimental impact on native species, communities and ecosystems. In order to restore island ecosystems by eliminating the impacts of black rat, several projects have been planned and implemented during the last 15 years on Italian islands. Although these projects were specifically aimed at protecting nesting shearwaters Calonectris diomedea and Puffinus yelkouan from rat predation, they were also planned in order to provide benefits to other island ecosystem components, species and communities. Rats were eradicated from small islands (about 1 ha of surface) to very large islands (over 1000 ha, i.e. Montecristo). Monitoring programmes showed that shearwater reproductive success increased after rat eradication. During these years, we obtained data on different aspects related to the problem of rat impact and control on islands: (1) rat impact on target species; (2) benefits for native species from rat removal; (3) field techniques and bait delivery methods; (4) impact of rodenticides on non-target species; (5) rat abundance, home range and movements and (6) rat reinvasion after eradication. Furthermore, we developed a model aimed at identifying priority islands where rat eradication should be carried out, and/or establish recommended actions.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to all friends and colleagues who have worked during these 15 years in these restoration projects. In particular to Ferdinando Corbi, Samantha Francescato, Silvio D’Alessio, Michele Giunti, Bruno Massa, Sergio Nissardi, Danilo Pisu, Max Putzu, Giovanna Spano, Viviana Stanzione, Toni Torre, Marco Zenatello and Carla Zucca. The directors and staff members of many protected areas facilitated and stimulated our work on many levels, and we are indebted especially to Francesca Giannini, Augusto Navone, Franca Zanichelli and Sergio Zerunian. Finally, we wish to thank two anonymous referees for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Latium Region—Regional Park Agency, via del Pescaccio 96, Rome, 00166, Italy

    Dario Capizzi

  2. Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA), via Ca’ Fornacetta 9, Ozzano Emilia (Bologna), 40064, Italy

    Nicola Baccetti

  3. NEMO Srl, Piazza D’Azeglio 11, Florence, 50121, Italy

    Paolo Sposimo

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  1. Dario Capizzi
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  2. Nicola Baccetti
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  3. Paolo Sposimo
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Correspondence to Dario Capizzi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. FIZV, Rome, Italy

    Francesco M. Angelici

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Capizzi, D., Baccetti, N., Sposimo, P. (2016). Fifteen Years of Rat Eradication on Italian Islands. In: Angelici, F. (eds) Problematic Wildlife. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22246-2_10

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