Ecosystem impacts of feral rabbits on World Heritage sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island: A palaeoecological perspective
The introduction and establishment of non-indigenous species through human activities often poses a major threat to natural biodiversity. In many parts of the world management efforts are therefore focused on their eradication. The environment of World Heritage sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island has bee...
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ftdatacite:10.7892/boris.51710 2023-05-15T13:54:54+02:00 Ecosystem impacts of feral rabbits on World Heritage sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island: A palaeoecological perspective Mauchle, Fabian Saunders, Krystyna De Jong, Rixt Harrison, J.J. Hodgson, D.A. McMinn, A. 2013 application/pdf https://dx.doi.org/10.7892/boris.51710 http://boris.unibe.ch/51710/ en eng Elsevier info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess 910 Geography & travel 550 Earth sciences & geology CreativeWork article 2013 ftdatacite https://doi.org/10.7892/boris.51710 2021-11-05T12:55:41Z The introduction and establishment of non-indigenous species through human activities often poses a major threat to natural biodiversity. In many parts of the world management efforts are therefore focused on their eradication. The environment of World Heritage sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island has been severely damaged by non-indigenous species including rabbits, rats and mice, introduced from the late AD 1800s. An extensive eradication programme is now underway which aims to remove all rabbits and rodents. To provide a long-term context for assessing the Island's pre-invasion state, invasion impacts, and to provide a baseline for monitoring its recovery, we undertook a palaeoecological study using proxies in a lake sediment core. Sedimentological and diatom analyses revealed an unproductive catchment and lake environment persisted for ca. 7100 years prior to the introduction of the invasive species. After ca. AD 1898, unprecedented and statistically significant environmental changes occurred. Lake sediment accumulation rates increased >100 times due to enhanced catchment inputs and within-lake production. Total carbon and total nitrogen contents of the sediments increased by a factor of four. The diatom flora became dominated by two previously rare species. The results strongly suggest a causal link between the anthropogenic introduction of rabbits and the changes identified in the lake sediments. This study provides an example of how palaeoecology may be used to determine baseline conditions prior to the introduction of non-indigenous species, quantify the timing and extent of changes, and help monitor the recovery of the ecosystem and natural biodiversity following successful non-indigenous species eradication programmes. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Macquarie Island DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) Antarctic |
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DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) |
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English |
topic |
910 Geography & travel 550 Earth sciences & geology |
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910 Geography & travel 550 Earth sciences & geology Mauchle, Fabian Saunders, Krystyna De Jong, Rixt Harrison, J.J. Hodgson, D.A. McMinn, A. Ecosystem impacts of feral rabbits on World Heritage sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island: A palaeoecological perspective |
topic_facet |
910 Geography & travel 550 Earth sciences & geology |
description |
The introduction and establishment of non-indigenous species through human activities often poses a major threat to natural biodiversity. In many parts of the world management efforts are therefore focused on their eradication. The environment of World Heritage sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island has been severely damaged by non-indigenous species including rabbits, rats and mice, introduced from the late AD 1800s. An extensive eradication programme is now underway which aims to remove all rabbits and rodents. To provide a long-term context for assessing the Island's pre-invasion state, invasion impacts, and to provide a baseline for monitoring its recovery, we undertook a palaeoecological study using proxies in a lake sediment core. Sedimentological and diatom analyses revealed an unproductive catchment and lake environment persisted for ca. 7100 years prior to the introduction of the invasive species. After ca. AD 1898, unprecedented and statistically significant environmental changes occurred. Lake sediment accumulation rates increased >100 times due to enhanced catchment inputs and within-lake production. Total carbon and total nitrogen contents of the sediments increased by a factor of four. The diatom flora became dominated by two previously rare species. The results strongly suggest a causal link between the anthropogenic introduction of rabbits and the changes identified in the lake sediments. This study provides an example of how palaeoecology may be used to determine baseline conditions prior to the introduction of non-indigenous species, quantify the timing and extent of changes, and help monitor the recovery of the ecosystem and natural biodiversity following successful non-indigenous species eradication programmes. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mauchle, Fabian Saunders, Krystyna De Jong, Rixt Harrison, J.J. Hodgson, D.A. McMinn, A. |
author_facet |
Mauchle, Fabian Saunders, Krystyna De Jong, Rixt Harrison, J.J. Hodgson, D.A. McMinn, A. |
author_sort |
Mauchle, Fabian |
title |
Ecosystem impacts of feral rabbits on World Heritage sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island: A palaeoecological perspective |
title_short |
Ecosystem impacts of feral rabbits on World Heritage sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island: A palaeoecological perspective |
title_full |
Ecosystem impacts of feral rabbits on World Heritage sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island: A palaeoecological perspective |
title_fullStr |
Ecosystem impacts of feral rabbits on World Heritage sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island: A palaeoecological perspective |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ecosystem impacts of feral rabbits on World Heritage sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island: A palaeoecological perspective |
title_sort |
ecosystem impacts of feral rabbits on world heritage sub-antarctic macquarie island: a palaeoecological perspective |
publisher |
Elsevier |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://dx.doi.org/10.7892/boris.51710 http://boris.unibe.ch/51710/ |
geographic |
Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Macquarie Island |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Macquarie Island |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7892/boris.51710 |
_version_ |
1766261104167616512 |