https://hakaimagazine.com/news/calling-in-the-seabirds/
"Scientists are rebuilding a seabird paradise on Lehua Island, a small,
crescent-shaped volcanic cone 35 kilometers west of Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i. Before the
arrival of European explorers in the 1800s, the island’s steep headlands teemed
with hundreds of thousands of raucous seabirds, including albatrosses, terns,
and petrels, whose guano oozed down bluffs to enrich waters brimming with fish.
Native Hawaiians traveled to the rugged island by canoe to fish and gather
shellfish. But the ecosystem began unraveling with the introduction of invasive
rats that decimated seabird eggs and chicks, rabbits that displaced birds from
their burrows and mowed down native vegetation, and plants that colonized the
disturbed ground. Seabird numbers plummeted, and some species abandoned Lehua.
Over the past 20 years, however, Hawai‘i’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife
has led a concerted campaign of research, hunting, and aerial poisoning to
finally drive off the rabbits and rats. The work, conducted with help from the
California-based nonprofit Island Conservation, the National Tropical Botanical
Garden, the US Coast Guard, and others, is already paying off. The number of
‘ā (the Hawaiian name for red-footed boobies) and other species that survived
the invaders are increasing in the state sanctuary, which is uninhabited by
people and closed to most visitors.
Lehua’s newly rat-free status makes it a crucial refuge for seabirds, says
Sheri Mann, the Hawai‘i Division of Forestry and Wildlife forester overseeing
the restoration efforts. The island is a haven for other reasons, too: its
steep and rocky coastline climbs to the height of a 60-story building,
safeguarding seabird habitat even as seas continue to rise.
Now, Mann and her colleagues are left with an entirely different challenge: how
to bring back the seabirds that have long since abandoned Lehua Island,
including the
ʻuaʻu (Hawaiian petrel),
‘ewa‘ewa (sooty tern), and
hinaokū
(blue-gray noddy). Fortunately, the scientists have a sneaky plan to lure them
in."
Via
Future Crunch:
<
https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-women-uzbekistan-conservation-colombia-river-florida/>
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
