Island Conservation
Conservation intervention relieved the Channel Island ecosystems from the pressures of invasive species. Island Conservation’s headquarters is located in Santa Cruz, California, so the news about invasive species on the Channel Islands is quite literally close to home. Anacapa Island of the Channel Islands, California. Photo by Island Conservation Invasive species arrived at the islands via human activities, […]
The genome of the Extinct-in-the-Wild Hawaiian Crow, ‘Alalā, has been sequenced to aid scientists in conservation efforts. Many native Hawaiian plants, especially those in dry forests, rely on the crow for seed dispersal and germination. Tree heliotrope, Heliotropium foertherianum, Hawaii native plant. Photo by Island Conservation Facing increased threats from invasive species and disease, loss of […]
Working with local people is key when it comes to protecting native wildlife. Conservationists from the Isles of Scilly Seabird Recovery Project and restoration specialists from Wildlife Management International jointed together with local volunteers to eradicate invasive rats that were killing seabirds. Manx Shearwater chick. Photo by Nick Tomalin Since the removal of the rat population, […]
The geological, biological, and ecological features of islands support marine life. You may not think twice about the fact that islands and their surrounding marine habitats are full of life. That biological abundance is something we learn about in picture books growing up, in movies, literature, and art. But the actual explanation for the biological hotspots […]
National Geographic recently covered a study on the impacts of invasive species eradication on biodiversity. The study, conducted by 30 scientists, one of them Island Conservation’s Director of Science Nick Holmes, appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Global Ecology and Conservation. The study found 596 populations of 236 native species on 181 islands benefited from these eradications. […]
Exciting news! A new species of lizard was discovered on the remote Mussau Island in the Pacific Ocean. Because they are isolated, islands are conducive to speciation, which leads to fascinating organisms–like this lizard–and high biodiversity. Described as a ‘biological oddity’, researchers from the University of Turku in Finland say the lizard, named Varanus semotus, […]
A group of 512 scientists and members of the Association of Tropical Biology and Conservation signed a declaration calling for $1 billion of government funding for the full remediation and biocultural restoration of Kaho’olawe Island. Kaho’olawe, off the coast of Maui, is ridden with explosives, having been used as a bombing range by the U.S. […]
Say goodbye to what was once called “Rat Island.” Native birds are reclaiming Hawadax Island as their own, thanks to the removal of invasive species in 2008 by Island Conservation, USFWS Alaska, and The Nature Conservancy. Bird species that were absent prior to rat eradication but now found on Hawadax include tufted puffins, song sparrows […]