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Avoiding surprise effects on Surprise Island: alien species control in a multitrophic level perspective

  • Invasive Rodents on Islands
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Abstract

Eradications of invasive alien species have generally benefited biodiversity. However, without sufficient planning, successful eradications can have unexpected and unwanted consequences for native species and ecosystems. In particular, the “surprise effect” is the rapid increase of hitherto unnoticed species following the sudden removal of an invasive alien that was exerting an ecological force on those species (predation, competition or herbivory, for example). The only way to prevent these undesired outcomes is to adapt the control programme following the characterization of the trophic relationships between the invasive alien species and the invaded communities, that is, to view the control with a holistic perspective. Here, we illustrate this point with the study of the role of the ship rat (Rattus rattus), which invaded a tropical pacific atoll, Surprise Island, New Caledonia. We assessed the risk of surprise effects during a pre-eradication phase of several years, and then adapted our eradication strategy accordingly.

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Acknowledgements

We first would like to thank the various people who devoted much time and energy in the field: Matthieu Bacques, Karen Bourgeois, Isabelle Brun, Leigh Bull, Francisco Carro Mariño, Xim Cerda, Jean-Louis Chapuis, Samuel Decout, Sylvain Dromzee, Mathias Gerhardt, Stephen Gregory, Elodie Guirlet, Richard Hall, Donna Harris, Colette Hannecart, Vincent Hulin, Jean-Baptiste Mihoub, Benoît Pisanu, Samuel Quebre, Philippe Rivalan, James Russell, Pascal Villard, and Ludovic Wrobel. We are also very grateful to Vincent Bretagnolle, Xim Cerda, Jean-Louis Chapuis, Donna Harris, Olivier Lorvelec, Michel Pascal, and Benoît Pisanu for scientific input, as well as to Marion Delon, Myriam Ennifar, Guillaume Gibert, Delphine Legrand, Neus Mari Mena, Jean-Baptiste Mihoub, Maude Mirandel, Aurélie Perret, Thomas Suisse, Elodie de Vansay, and Michèle Veuille for their valuable help in the laboratory. This study was made possible thanks to logistical support from the French Navy in New Caledonia and from OPT Nouméa and to financial support from IFB, INSU (ACI ECCO-PNBC), Agence Nationale de la Recherche, the Government of New Caledonia, and the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (SEEU-FSE). All authors have applied appropriate ethics and other approval for the research; SC was authorized for animal experimentation (R-45GRETA-F1-04) by the French Minister of Agriculture. We thank the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.

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  1. Laboratoire d’Ecologie, Systématique & Evolution, UMR CNRS 8079, Bât. 362, Univ Paris-Sud, 91405, Orsay Cedex, France

    Stéphane Caut, Elena Angulo & Franck Courchamp

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  1. Stéphane Caut
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  2. Elena Angulo
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  3. Franck Courchamp
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Correspondence to Stéphane Caut or Franck Courchamp.

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Caut, S., Angulo, E. & Courchamp, F. Avoiding surprise effects on Surprise Island: alien species control in a multitrophic level perspective. Biol Invasions 11, 1689–1703 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-008-9397-9

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