Lord Howe Island to become rat free

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Chlidonias

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Lord Howe Island to become rat-free - BirdLife Community|BirdLife Community
13 August 2012

BirdLife Australia (BirdLife Partner) is delighted by the recent announcement made by Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke and NSW Environment Minister Robyn Parker to commit $9 million to eradicate rodents from Lord Howe Island.

Lord Howe Island, a World Heritage Area and a globally significant Important Bird Area, is home to 182 bird species, three of which are endemic – making it one of Australia’s most important seabird islands.

However since settlement, nine of Lord Howe Island’s endemic birds have become extinct due to rats and other human-related pressures, and today at least 13 different birds on Lord Howe Island are still threatened by rodents, including the Nationally Vulnerable White-bellied Storm-Petrel and Lord Howe Woodhen. Rats have also been implicated in the decline and extinction of 13 invertebrate and two plant species.

The Lord Howe Group is the only breeding site in Australasia for the White-bellied Storm-Petrel, and one of only two Australasian breeding sites where the Kermadec Petrel breeds; due to predation by rodents, neither species still breeds on the main island, and they now only nest on Balls Pyramid, a small, rat-free island offshore from Lord Howe Island.

Last year BirdLife Australia committed to a campaign to secure funding for the eradication of rodents from Lord Howe Island. Our State of Australia’s Birds 2010 highlighted the eradication of rodents from Lord Howe Island as a key priority, and our Head of Conservation, Samantha Vine, wrote to all relevant parliamentarians, calling for the eradication plan to be funded under the ‘Caring for our Country’ program. We asked our supporters to do the same.

Thanks to the effort of everyone who did their bit, we will soon see the largest eradication operation to be attempted on an inhabited island. It will have enduring conservation benefits for biodiversity globally: at least 13 bird species, 49 floral species, 12 ecological communities, and plenty more will benefit. The reduction in predation and resource competition will also increase the resilience of all species on Lord Howe Island to the impacts of climate change.

Exciting news indeed.
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That's really good news.

Let's hope it's done properly.

:p

Hix
 
it is indeed fantastic news. I think it's perfectly achievable (NZ's been paving the way for years, clearing larger and larger islands of rats, and the techniques developed here have been utilised elsewhere such as down in the subantarctic, the Mascarenes, etc). The problem is ensuring the island stays rat-free which will be an ongoing concern, although I imagine the risks can be narrowed to the main entry points (airport and docks).

The long-term benefits to the eco-system will be immense!! (Hopefully they can establish some of the Norfolk Island species on the island too as replacements for related extinct species, because I think there are a few candidates).
 
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Are they Black(Ship) Rats like on all the other Islands? Believe it or not but this is probably now the UK's rarest mammal- almost extinct and known for sure on only one island group(the Shiants) in the Hebrides. Sightings have been made at a few other locations but these are not established colonies.
 
It is great how the Lord Howe Stick Insect became an umbrella species. Usually it's a vertebrate being the umbrella for inverts, but in this case it's the other way around!
 
I am wondering if Lord Howe could function as a back up population for Cyanoramphus cookii? It is the closest relative of the native Cyanoramphus subflavescens and could benefit both the species as the island with its introduction.
 
DDcorvus said:
I am wondering if Lord Howe could function as a back up population for Cyanoramphus cookii? It is the closest relative of the native Cyanoramphus subflavescens and could benefit both the species as the island with its introduction.
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in one of the links above that was mentioned (I think it must have been the 2007 one). The authors were discussing how if trying to recreate the ecosystem as much as possible, the fact that there is a resident human population on the island will need to be taken into consideration because some aspects may not work well in that regard. They specifically said how the original parakeets on Lord Howe were persecuted because they were a "pest" (i.e. eating seedlings).

Different times now of course, so I'm sure that is one of the things they will be thinking about.
 
What are the experiences from Norfolk as those might be more relevant than historical accounts. And hopefully it will work out as I think it could benefit both the island and the species.
 
vogelcommando said:
Good news for the animals on Lord Howe after the rats are gone :) :

https://www.smh.com.au/environment/...qbQOlJZJi8nVs5pli3zJ5jMlY9FkNlCOh4KDzkqFSaiUY
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The Lord Howe flightless wood hen rebounded to 440 birds this year. Double the number from last season following eradication.

Interestingly, resistance to the rat eradication program was big on the island previously. But the effort happened anyway. Testament to the great expertise of island conservation managers.

QUOTE: "Feral animals have already caused the extinction of six bird species including the Lord Howe Island fantail, white-eye, gerygone, starling and thrush, as well as 13 invertebrates and two plant species. Since rats scurried ashore from a shipwreck in 1918, they have caused or contributed to the extinction."
UNQOUTE
 
DDcorvus said:
Would be interesting if introductions like Cyanoramphus cookii would be considered. It would bring a close relative of an extinct (sub)species native to island back and the species could use a second population, especially on a rat-free island.
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I would love to see species reintroduced, even if they arent the same species/subspecies as they could be good back up populations and full the niches of the extinct birds
 
joe99 said:
I would love to see species reintroduced, even if they arent the same species/subspecies as they could be good back up populations and full the niches of the extinct birds
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If not the same species / subspecies then this wouldn't be a case of a reintroduction but an introduction of an alien species even if this is an "analogue species" for ecological restoration purposes which turns out after establishment to have a benign impact.
 
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https://amp-abc-net-au.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.abc.net.au/article/101013162

Lord Howe has remained rodent-free since the eradication effort in 2019. Four species of tiny endemic snails have been rediscovered after being feared extinct. The Lord Howe Woodhen now numbers c.800 birds (up from c.440 last year, and c.200 in the years prior to the 2019 rodent eradication).

"We're seeing a return with all species — seabirds, plants, insects, snails," Mr Bower said. "We're seeing things we've never seen before."

The next phase of conservation would involve controlling the island's weeds, which were also rebounding as a result of the rodent eradication program.
 
Here is another relevant article.

Lord Howe Island's biodiversity recovering thanks to rodent control

The recovery of one of Australia's rarest birds is on track thanks to a rodent control program developed to protect the unique wildlife on World Heritage listed Lord Howe Island.

Minister for Environment James Griffin said the population of endangered Lord Howe Island Woodhens has almost tripled to about 565 since the rodent control was implemented on the in 2019.

Lord Howe Island's biodiversity recovering thanks to rodent control
 
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