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Invasive rats and seabirds after 2,000 years of an unwanted coexistence on Mediterranean islands

  • Invasive Rodents on Islands
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Abstract

In the Mediterranean, the survival of endemic long-lived seabirds despite the long-standing introduction of one of the most damaging alien predator, the ship rat (Rattus rattus), on most islands constitutes an amazing conservation paradox. A database gathering information on approximately 300 Western Mediterranean islands was analyzed through generalized linear models to identify the factors likely to influence ship rat presence and to account for how ship rat presence and island characteristics may have driven the presence and abundance of seabirds. Our review showed that few Mediterranean islands remain rat-free. At the regional scale, rat presence was only a limiting factor in the abundance of the smallest seabird, the storm petrel (Hydrobates pelagicus), while the distribution and abundance of the three shearwaters were more influenced by island characteristics. We hypothesized that the long-term persistence of these seabirds may have been facilitated by the various biogeographical contexts of Mediterranean islands, likely to provide intra-island refuges.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all the people who provided data, contacts, unpublished reports, and other information: H. Azafzaf, J. Borg, G. Brundu, F. Corbi, C. Curé, J. Fric, J. M. Igual, M. Louzao, A. Martinez Abrain, B. Massa, F. Médail, R. Moulia, S. Pasta, J. D. Vigne. We also thank D. Drake and T. Hunt for inviting us to write this paper, M. Sweetko for improving the English, Y. Delettre (CNRS, UMR 6553 Ecobio, Rennes), and two anonymous referees for helpful comments on earlier drafts of the manuscript. Funds were provided by a PhD fellowship granted by the “Ecole Doctorale des Sciences de l’Environnement” to L. R. and by a post-doctoral fellowship from the ANR (“ALIENS” project) to K. B.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IMEP-CNRS, Paul Cézanne University, Bâtiment Villemin, Domaine du Petit Arbois, Avenue Philibert, B.P. 80, 13545, Aix-en-Provence Cédex 04, France

    L. Ruffino, K. Bourgeois, E. Vidal & C. Duhem

  2. Grupo de Investigacion Ecologia Acuatica y Acuicultura, Universidad de Almeria Apdo. 110, 04770, Adra, Almería, Spain

    M. Paracuellos

  3. Dirección General del Medio Natural, Consejería de Desarrollo Sostenible y Ordenación del Territorio, C/Catedrático Eugenio Úbeda, 3 3ª planta. Despacho 302, 30008, Murcia, Spain

    F. Escribano

  4. NEMO, Nature and Environment Management Operators S.r.l., Piazza D’Azeglio 11, 50121, Florence, Italy

    P. Sposimo

  5. Istituto Nazionale per la Fauna Selvatica via ca’ Fornacetta 9, 40064, Ozzano Emilia BO, Italy

    N. Baccetti

  6. INRA SCRIBE, Équipe Écologie des Invasions Biologiques, UMR Écologie et Santé des Écosystèmes, Campus de Beaulieu, 35000, Rennes, France

    M. Pascal

  7. Institut Mediterrani d’Estudis Avancats IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), Miquel Marques 21, 07190, Esporles, Mallorca, Spain

    D. Oro

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  1. L. Ruffino
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  2. K. Bourgeois
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  3. E. Vidal
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  9. M. Pascal
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  10. D. Oro
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Correspondence to L. Ruffino.

Appendix 1

Appendix 1

See Table 6.

Table 6 Location of the 292 islands studied and indication on presence/absence on islands of the four seabird species (C: Calonectris diomedea, M: Puffinus mauretanicus, Y: P. yelkouan, H: Hydrobates pelagicus) and Rattus rattus (R)
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Ruffino, L., Bourgeois, K., Vidal, E. et al. Invasive rats and seabirds after 2,000 years of an unwanted coexistence on Mediterranean islands. Biol Invasions 11, 1631–1651 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-008-9394-z

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