Abstract
Insular ecosystems can be dramatically affected by alien species, and records of pre-eradication status are essential to evaluate the effects of eradicating alien species. Nishi-jima Island is a small island of the Ogasawara group on which the first program of complete eradication of alien herbivorous mammals (black rats and feral goats) will be conducted. After eradication, the government plans to conduct ecosystem restoration on the island. This paper reports the angiosperm flora and vegetation of Nishi-jima Island before eradication of the rats and goats, with the objective of aiding ecosystem management after the eradication. Our surveys indicate that vegetation cover by the alien tree, Casuarina equisetifolia has expanded compared with its distribution in a 1974 aerial photograph of the island. The predominant vegetation in 2006 was C. equisetifolia forests and Zoysia tenuifolia grasslands, with fragmented native tree vegetation. The flora of the island comprised 69 angiosperm species (50 indigenous species) of which 30% were endemic, far less than for the Ogasawara Islands as a whole (45%). However, several populations of endangered plants remain. To restore the native ecosystem on Nishi-jima, eradication of C. equisetifolia is important in addition to eradication of alien herbivorous mammals.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Jun Maesawa and Yui Ishigami for field assistance, and anonymous referees for helpful comments. The National Forest Division of the Ogasawara General Office permitted us to use the study site. This study was partially supported by the Ministry of the Environment (Global Environmental Research Coordination System).
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Abe, T., Yasui, T. & Makino, S. Vegetation status on Nishi-jima Island (Ogasawara) before eradication of alien herbivore mammals: rapid expansion of an invasive alien tree, Casuarina equisetifolia (Casuarinaceae). J For Res 16, 484–491 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10310-010-0239-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10310-010-0239-0