Abstract
After its introduction to Australia, the rabbit population exploded. It might have reached ten billion around 1920 but, if so, decreased a lot even before the myxomatosis disease offered the first functioning control method.
The rabbits are vegetarians and consume a broad variety of plants from grass and herbs to leaf and bark of wood shrubs. In high densities, the rabbits will consume native plants to such an extent that topsoil is bared and the soil exposed to sheet, gully, and wind erosion. Although rabbits are seen as a major factor behind the changing face of the Australian landscape, their exact role in the loss of plant species is more difficult to assess. The reason is that the rabbits didn’t come alone. Extensive sheep farming mostly preceded them, and they, in turn, were followed by many other alien species.
The big picture today is that the rabbit population is under control, mostly with the help of the two introduced viruses, but with some conventional control methods temporarily and locally applied. The situation, however, appears precarious and requires continuous surveillance.
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Jernelöv, A. (2017). Rabbits in Australia. In: The Long-Term Fate of Invasive Species. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55396-2_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55396-2_6
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