Avian Extinction and Mammalian Introductions on Oceanic Islands

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 305; no. 5692; pp. 1955 - 1958
• Main Authors: Blackburn, Tim M., Cassey, Phillip, Duncan, Richard P., Evans, Karl L., Gaston, Kevin J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 24-09-2004; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Atlantic Islands; Aves; Biological and medical sciences; Biological Evolution; Birds; Birds of prey; Cats; Colonization; Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife; Ecosystem; Emigration and Immigration; Endangered & extinct species; Endemic species; Environmental aspects; Environmental degradation: ecosystems survey and restoration; Europe; Europeans; Extinct animals; Extinct species; Extinction (Biology); Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human influences; Humans; Influence; Introduced species; Islands; Land Settlement; Mammalia; Mammals; Mammals - physiology; Models, Biological; Multiple Regression Analysis; Numbers; Observations; Oceanic islands; Ornithology; Pacific Islands; Population Dynamics; Predation; Predators; Predatory animals; Predatory Behavior; Probability; Rats; Sea birds; Species extinction; Statistical Distributions; Threatened species; West Indies; Europe; Pacific Islands; Atlantic Islands; West Indies; Vertebrata; Introduced species; Mammalia; Population extinction; Species extinction; Ocean; Predator; Aves; Island; Native species; Anthropogenic factor
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1101617

The arrival of humans on oceanic islands has precipitated a wave of extinctions among the islands' native birds. Nevertheless, the magnitude of this extinction event varies markedly between avifaunas. We show that the probability that a bird species has been extirpated from each of 220 oceanic islands is positively correlated with the number of exotic predatory mammal species established on those islands after European colonization and that the effect of these predators is greater on island endemic species: In contrast, the proportions of currently threatened species are independent of the numbers of exotic mammalian predator species, suggesting that the principal threat to island birds has changed through time as species susceptible to exotic predators have been driven extinct.