Rat eradication comes within a whisker! A case study of a failed project from the South Pacific
To enhance their conservation value, several hundred islands worldwide have been cleared of invasive alien rats, Rattus spp. One of the largest projects yet undertaken was on 43 km2 Henderson Island in the Pitcairn group, South Pacific, in August 2011. Following massive immediate mortality, a single...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:7bbacf3a8755453fb6c4fdd071ac3a01 2023-05-15T16:34:34+02:00 Rat eradication comes within a whisker! A case study of a failed project from the South Pacific W. Amos H. J. Nichols T. Churchyard M. de L. Brooke 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160110 https://doaj.org/article/7bbacf3a8755453fb6c4fdd071ac3a01 EN eng The Royal Society https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.160110 https://doaj.org/toc/2054-5703 2054-5703 doi:10.1098/rsos.160110 https://doaj.org/article/7bbacf3a8755453fb6c4fdd071ac3a01 Royal Society Open Science, Vol 3, Iss 4 (2016) brodifacoum genetic diversity henderson island heterozygosity pitcairn islands rattus exulans Science Q article 2016 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160110 2022-12-31T05:08:10Z To enhance their conservation value, several hundred islands worldwide have been cleared of invasive alien rats, Rattus spp. One of the largest projects yet undertaken was on 43 km2 Henderson Island in the Pitcairn group, South Pacific, in August 2011. Following massive immediate mortality, a single R. exulans was observed in March 2012 and, subsequently, rat numbers have recovered. The survivors show no sign of resistance to the toxicant used, brodifacoum. Using pre- and post-operation rat tissue samples from Henderson, plus samples from around the Pacific, we exclude re-introduction as the source of continued rat presence. Microsatellite analysis of 18 loci enabled comparison of genetic diversity of Henderson rats before and after the bait drop. The fall in diversity measured by allele frequency change indicated that the bottleneck (Ne) through which the breeding population passed was probably around 50 individuals, representing a census population of about 60–80 animals. This is the first failed project that has estimated how close it was to success. Article in Journal/Newspaper Henderson Island Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Pacific Henderson Island ENVELOPE(97.200,97.200,-66.367,-66.367) Royal Society Open Science 3 4 160110 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
brodifacoum genetic diversity henderson island heterozygosity pitcairn islands rattus exulans Science Q |
spellingShingle |
brodifacoum genetic diversity henderson island heterozygosity pitcairn islands rattus exulans Science Q W. Amos H. J. Nichols T. Churchyard M. de L. Brooke Rat eradication comes within a whisker! A case study of a failed project from the South Pacific |
topic_facet |
brodifacoum genetic diversity henderson island heterozygosity pitcairn islands rattus exulans Science Q |
description |
To enhance their conservation value, several hundred islands worldwide have been cleared of invasive alien rats, Rattus spp. One of the largest projects yet undertaken was on 43 km2 Henderson Island in the Pitcairn group, South Pacific, in August 2011. Following massive immediate mortality, a single R. exulans was observed in March 2012 and, subsequently, rat numbers have recovered. The survivors show no sign of resistance to the toxicant used, brodifacoum. Using pre- and post-operation rat tissue samples from Henderson, plus samples from around the Pacific, we exclude re-introduction as the source of continued rat presence. Microsatellite analysis of 18 loci enabled comparison of genetic diversity of Henderson rats before and after the bait drop. The fall in diversity measured by allele frequency change indicated that the bottleneck (Ne) through which the breeding population passed was probably around 50 individuals, representing a census population of about 60–80 animals. This is the first failed project that has estimated how close it was to success. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
W. Amos H. J. Nichols T. Churchyard M. de L. Brooke |
author_facet |
W. Amos H. J. Nichols T. Churchyard M. de L. Brooke |
author_sort |
W. Amos |
title |
Rat eradication comes within a whisker! A case study of a failed project from the South Pacific |
title_short |
Rat eradication comes within a whisker! A case study of a failed project from the South Pacific |
title_full |
Rat eradication comes within a whisker! A case study of a failed project from the South Pacific |
title_fullStr |
Rat eradication comes within a whisker! A case study of a failed project from the South Pacific |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rat eradication comes within a whisker! A case study of a failed project from the South Pacific |
title_sort |
rat eradication comes within a whisker! a case study of a failed project from the south pacific |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160110 https://doaj.org/article/7bbacf3a8755453fb6c4fdd071ac3a01 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(97.200,97.200,-66.367,-66.367) |
geographic |
Pacific Henderson Island |
geographic_facet |
Pacific Henderson Island |
genre |
Henderson Island |
genre_facet |
Henderson Island |
op_source |
Royal Society Open Science, Vol 3, Iss 4 (2016) |
op_relation |
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.160110 https://doaj.org/toc/2054-5703 2054-5703 doi:10.1098/rsos.160110 https://doaj.org/article/7bbacf3a8755453fb6c4fdd071ac3a01 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160110 |
container_title |
Royal Society Open Science |
container_volume |
3 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
160110 |
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1766024510871437312 |