Effects of the Black Rat (Rattus rattus) on Tropical Islands: Helpful or Harmful?

• Published in: John Heinrichs Scholarly & Creative Activities Day
• Main Authors: Zeng, Sheena, Michels, Amber
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: FHSU Scholars Repository 2020
• Subjects: Rattus rattus
• Online Access: https://scholars.fhsu.edu/sacad/vol2020/iss2020/94; https://doi.org/10.58809/QAGM2992; https://scholars.fhsu.edu/context/sacad/article/1161/viewcontent/2020_SACAD_YounJinSeok.pdf

Rats do not enjoy a particularly good reputation, especially in regards to the environment. Many know rats to be pests, spreaders of diseases, and overall ruinous to the environments they are introduced to. The focus of this poster is on the impact of black rats (Rattus rattus) and brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) on tropical islands. Many studies support the idea that introduced rats destroy the ecosystems of tropical islands by negatively impacting the islands' bird populations. However, a study suggested that rats might have a positive impact on tropical islands through spreading seeds of different plants across the terrain. However, after the compilation and analysis of several studies regarding rats' impacts on tropical islands, it was concluded that the negative impact of rats on tropical islands outweigh the positive impacts.