0198566123.pdf

and Olson 1991). Pimm et al. (1995) believe that roughly 125–145 bird species once inhabited the main islands, of which 90–110 a ...

PATTERNS OF LOSS ACROSS ISLAND TAXA 309 were browsers on understorey vegetation. The ter- restrial omnivores all but disappeared ...

dominated by forest species. The high rate of extinction in the avifauna prior to European settle- ment must have been related t ...

PATTERNS OF LOSS ACROSS ISLAND TAXA 311 already occurred, although the repercussions of this event were ongoing, and in fact, so ...

stood at only 111 people. Just 16 years later the Chilean government annexed the island, and it became in effect a sheep ranch, ...

PATTERNS OF LOSS ACROSS ISLAND TAXA 313 bird ever recorded, the giant elephantbird (Aepyornis maximus). Other losses include 2 g ...

Holocene are extinct, and a further nine reptile species are today found only on the off-lying islands, among them the ‘living f ...

PATTERNS OF LOSS ACROSS ISLAND TAXA 315 times) the introduction of exotic species. Knowledge of the precise timings of species d ...

species, and so habitat conservation remains key to the conservation of the native species. Plants in peril With all the attenti ...

PATTERNS OF LOSS ACROSS ISLAND TAXA 317 timber and fuel, the introduction of alien plants, and clearance for cultivation, planta ...

had a predictably marked effect on seed dispersal on Guam (Rainey et al. 1995). Thus, while habitat removal is again a key drivi ...

PATTERNS OF LOSS ACROSS ISLAND TAXA 319 Box 11.4 The invasion of Myrica fayain the Hawaiian islands Of the more than 13 000 plan ...

Exotic plants may alter other ecosystem proper- ties, such as fire regimes or hydrological conditions. Examples of each can be d ...

HOW FRAGILE AND INVASIBLE ARE ISLAND ECOSYSTEMS? 321 disturbance, and introduction on an island-wide basis. They also often sust ...

11.8 Summary As a result of human action, island birds have been 40 times more likely to become extinct within the past 400 year ...

Although generally distinct from continental environ- ments, and therefore of interest in their own right, island environments h ...

nameatholhu, applied to these islands, which are examples of this structure. It is this mode of origin that explains their low e ...

With independence from Australia, the Nauruans began to experience the financial benefits of phos- phate mining for the first ti ...

and current population growth, fuelled largely by immigration, is occurring at the rate of about 50 000 a year. The upshot is hu ...

CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS ON ISLANDS 327 Box 12.1 Invasive plants in the Canaries: the incorporation of prickly pear (Opuntia) into ...