<
https://hakaimagazine.com/news/galapagos-giant-tortoises-prove-their-worth-as-ecosystem-engineers/>
"In the late 19th century, whalers, settlers, and pirates changed the ecology
of the Galapagos Islands by poaching some native species—like Galapagos giant
tortoises—and introducing others, like goats and rats. The latter species
became pests and severely destabilized the island ecosystems. Goats overgrazed
the fruits and plants the tortoises ate while rats preyed on their eggs. Over
time, the tortoise population plummeted. On Española, an island in the
southeast of the archipelago, the tortoise count fell from over 10,000 to just
14. Along the way, with goats eating all the plants they could, Española—once
akin to a savanna—turned barren.
A century later, conservationists set out to restore the Galapagos giant
tortoise on Española—and the island ecosystem. They began eradicating the
introduced species and capturing Española’s remaining tortoises and breeding
them in captivity. With the goats wiped out and the tortoises in cages, the
ecosystem transformed once again. This time, the overgrazed terrain became
overgrown with densely packed trees and woody bushes. Española’s full recovery
to its savanna-like state would have to wait for the tortoises’ return."
Via
Future Crunch:
<
https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-democracy-europe-trans-japan-conservation-israel/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
