User:Rupert Clayton/List of introduced species in the Kerguelen Islands
These tables list non-native species introduced to the Kerguelen Islands. Some introductions were intentional, generally to provide food for crews stationed on Kerguelen. Others were accidental (e.g. rats, house mice and most non-native plant species).
Mammals
[edit]Several of the larger outlying islands in the archipelago are free of introduced animals. These include Île Foch 206 km2 (80 sq mi), Île Saint-Lanne Gramont 45.8 km2 (17.7 sq mi), Île de l'Ouest 33.0 km2 (12.7 sq mi), and the remote Îles Nuageuses, Îles Leygues and Îles de Boynes.
| Scientific and common name(s) |
Image | Origin | Method of introduction | Grande Terre | major islands | Golfe du Morbihan nearshore islands | Golfe du Morbihan central islands | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Île Howe | Île du Port | Île Haute | Île aux Moules | Île Stoll | Île Australia | Île Guillou | Île Longue | Île du Château | Île Inskip | Île Verte | Île Cimetière | Île du Chat | Île aux Cochons | Île Blakeney | ||||||
| Oryctolagus cuniculus European rabbit NT IUCN |
 |
Europe (via South Africa) | for food | 1874–now[a] | ???– now[b] |
???– now[b] |
???– now[b] |
???– 1995[c] |
???– now[b] |
???– 1994[d] |
???– now[b] |
???– now[b] |
???– 2000[e] |
|||||||
| Mus musculus house mouse LC IUCN |
 |
Europe | accidental from ships or cargo | 1800s– now[f][g] |
before 1992– ???[h] |
before 1997– ???[h] |
||||||||||||||
| Rattus rattus black rat LC IUCN |
 |
Europe | accidental from ships or cargo | 1800s– now[g][i] |
1900s– 2003[i] |
1900s– 2004[i] |
1900s– 2002[i] |
|||||||||||||
| Mustela lutreola mink CR IUCN |
 |
Europe | fur farming | 1956–before 1985[j] | ||||||||||||||||
| Felis catus domestic/feral cat |
 |
N. Africa / S. Europe | pest control, companion | early C19–1900s 1951–now[k] |
1950s– 1994[l] |
before 1874– ???[m] |
||||||||||||||
| Canis lupus familiaris Yakutian Laika and other dogs |
 |
Asia, Africa | sled dog, companion | 1903– after 1932[n] |
||||||||||||||||
| Sus scrofa pig |
 |
Europe | for food | 1900s– c.1985[o][p] |
||||||||||||||||
| Rangifer tarandus tarandus reindeer VU IUCN |
 |
Sweden | hunting and food | 1981– now[q] |
1955– 1981[r] |
|||||||||||||||
| Bos taurus taurus cattle |
 |
Asia Minor | c. 1985[p] | |||||||||||||||||
| Capra aegagrus hircus feral goat |
 |
Asia Minor | c. 1874[s] | |||||||||||||||||
| Ovis aries sheep |
 |
Europe | for food | 1908–1932 1949–???[t] |
after 1912 –???[u] |
???– before 2008[v] |
???– 2014[w] |
|||||||||||||
| Ovis orientalis gmelini/musimon mouflon VU IUCN |
 |
Europe | for hunting | 1957– 2013?[x] |
1956[y] | |||||||||||||||
| Equus ferus caballus horse |
.jpg) |
c. 1985[p][10] | ||||||||||||||||||
| E. asinus × E. caballus mule |
 |
???–before 1985[p] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Scientific and common name(s) |
Image | Origin | Method of introduction | Grande Terre | Île Howe | Île du Port | Île Haute | Île aux Moules | Île Stoll | Île Australia | Île Guillou | Île Longue | Île du Château | Île Inskip | Île Verte | Île Cimetière | Île du Chat | Île aux Cochons | Île Blakeney | |
| major islands | Golfe du Morbihan nearshore islands | Golfe du Morbihan central islands | ||||||||||||||||||
- ^ The British ship HMS Volage, part of an expedition to observe the transit of Venus, reported releasing a few pairs of European rabbits at Observatory Bay north of Île Haute in the Gulf of Morbihan on 5 November 1874.[1] They had been brought from the penal colony at Robben Island in Table Bay, South Africa.[1] The rationale was apparently to provide a fresh food source to sailors who might become shipwrecked. Rabbits were later introduced to nine other islands.[2] Grazing and burrowing by rabbits has had a serious impact on Kerguelen's native flora, reducing the abundance of species such as Azorella selago and Kerguelen cabbage (Pringlea antiscorbutica) and causing others, such as greater burnet (Acaena magellanica) to become over-dominant. Erosion and changed soil characteristics caused by rabbits have favored introduced plant species.[3] The problem has been most acute in the eastern half of the main island, where Pringlea antiscorbutica (Kerguelen cabbage) has been stripped from large areas, and on some of the smaller neighboring islands.[4] In particular, the rabbits choose to dig deep warrens in areas of Acaena magellanica.[4] In winter they are reduced to eating seaweed on the shore.[4] Population densities have reached 40+ per acre in some places. To date, the western and northwestern limits of the islands have been spared due to a less hospitable climate, as have areas above about 300 m (1,000 ft).[4] The more distant islands in the archipelago have also been spared.[5] To reduce the population of rabbits, myxoma virus was introduced in 1955–1956, but this succeeded in merely favoring the survival of virus-resistant individuals.[6]
- ^ a b c d e f Rabbits are the only introduced species on Île Howe. Rabbits were present on Île Howe, Île du Port, Île du Cimetière, Île du Chat, Île Inskip and Île Stoll in 1992 and do not appear to have been eradicated.[7]
- ^ Rabbits were eradicated from Île Guillou during the period 1994–1995.[8][9][10] A follow-up study 20 years later showed that biodiversity of fungal communities in Île Guillou's soil had not recovered from the impact of the rabbits.[11][12]
- ^ Rabbits were eradicated from Île Verte during the period 1992–1994.[8][10][9][10]
- ^ Rabbits were eradicated from Île aux Cochons during the period 1997–2000. By June 2000, the tracks of only one rabbit were observed in the snow.[8]
- ^ Mice are thought to play a role in spreading seeds of non-native plants.[13] Alfred Eaton, the naturalist on the 1874 Transit of Venus expedition, noted that mice were "common along the coast, and have been found by us in various places".[1] J.H. Kidder, visiting the same year, noted that mice abounded everywhere and speculated that they were introduced by sealers.[14]
- ^ a b In 1932, Aubert de la Rüe noted the presence of mice and rats around the deserted settlements at Port-Couvreux and Port-Jeanne-d'Arc, but felt the numbers were quite few, and that they had only moved a little way beyond the settlements along the shore and into areas of Acaena magellanica.[15]
- ^ a b Mice were present on Île Guillou in 1994 and Île aux Cochons in 1997, before the start of the rabbit-eradication programs on these islands.[16]
- ^ a b c d Rats are thought to have reduced the population of petrels by preying on young birds.[13] They were eradicated from Île du Château in 2002, from Île Stoll in 2003, and from Île Australia in 2004.[10]
- ^ Aubert de la Rüe speculated in 1932 that Kerguelen could be a suitable habitat to introduce fur-bearing animals.[15] Mink were introduced in 1956 but failed to establish a self-sustaining population and died out.[10][13]
- ^ The islands are home to a population of feral cats, originally brought to control rodents. One theory is that they are descended from ships' cats kept by sailors to control the rat population. They were present in the early 1900s and then went extinct.[10] Cats were reintroduced by scientists or service personnel in 1951 and 1956 to catch mice.[10] The endemic petrels proved easier to hunt than rodents, and the population on Grande Terre was severely affected. Once the cats began to run out of seabirds, they turned to the growing rabbit population. In the 1960s and 1970s, there were unsuccessful attempts to shoot the cats to protect native seabirds.[10] Currently, the cats live mainly on rabbits, mice and seabirds. Biologists have noted a high level of abnormalities among Kerguelen's feral cats, which may be traceable to the small size of the founding population. It also appears that there has been some adaptation to the island's environment, such as thicker fur to better protect against the cold.
- ^ Cats were present on Île Guillou in 1994, before the start of the rabbit-eradication program on this island.[16][10]
- ^ In 1874, J.H. Kidder noted that feral cats had lived on Île du Chat "for many years".[14]
- ^ When Erich von Drygalski's 1901–1903 Gauss Expedition to the South Pole left the Kerguelen Islands they did not have room for their Kamchatka sled dogs. Most were shot, but several were left behind alive.[17] E. Aubert de la Rüe noted in 1932 that packs of wild dogs roamed the south of Grande Terre, feeding on rabbits and young seabirds, and prowling the abandoned factory at Port-Jeanne-d'Arc during the night. De la Rüe found them also eating seal carcasses on the beaches. He traced their origin to both the Gauss Expedition's Laikas and more recent introduction of dogs from southern Africa by Norwegian hunters.[4] Clark and Dingwall noted in 1985 that the dogs released on Kerguelen had failed to establish a viable population.[13]
- ^ In the early 1900s, there were feral pigs on Kerguelen.[10]
- ^ a b c d In 1985, horses, pigs and cattle were all kept at the scientific station at Port-aux-Français (and mules had formerly been kept there) but did not form wild populations.[13]
- ^ Aubert de la Rüe speculated in 1932 that Kerguelen could be a suitable habitat to introduce reindeer.[15] However, it was another 23 years before they were stocked on Île Haute and 49 years before they made it to Grande Terre. Reindeer are excellent swimmers and in 1981 they found their way from Île Haute to Grande Terre. Today the reindeer number around 1,600–1,800 adults on the central plateau.[18] They have been able to survive due to their ability to extract sufficient nutrients from the islands' supply of lichens and mosses; however, their presence has had a negative impact on the flora of the archipelago. Following the eradication of a similarly introduced reindeer population on South Georgia they form the only such population in the southern hemisphere.[5]
- ^ Ten reindeer from Sweden were introduced to Île Haute in 1955–1956, and a further three in 1957. By the late 1960s, the population had reached about 100, but was constrained by competition for browse with the mouflon that had also been introduce on the small island. Reindeer are excellent swimmers and in 1981 they found their way to the main island of La Grande Terre, a short distance away. Shortly afterwards, there were no reindeer remaining on Île Haute.
- ^ Alfred Eaton, the naturalist on the 1874 Transit of Venus expedition, noted that "goats are increasing in numbers on the leeward side of the main land".[1]
- ^ Albert de la Rüe reported in 1932 that "on the Port-Couvreux and Port-Jeanne-d'Arc side [i.e. east side of Grande Terre], there are a few sheep living in the wild and belonging to herds that the Compagnie des Îles Kerguelen tried to acclimatize a few years ago." He says the company's breeding trials were badly conducted, but encourages future attempts with merino sheep from Patagonia, the Falkland Islands or South Africa.[19] A later survey of conservation on Antarctic islands noted that sheep were reintroduced around 1949 and that the population in 1975 was 800.[20] Convey and Lebouvier report slightly different dates, with the first sheep population being present 1909–1925, and a later introduction in 1952.[10]
- ^ It appears that sheep were introduced to Île Howe at some point. Following a visit to Île Howe on 22 December 1912, Baron Pierre Decouz reported that it could support 10,000 sheep. Their former presence is also evidenced by the name of the island's main peak, Mont des Moutons.
- ^ Sheep were also raised on Île aux Moules in the Gulf of Morbihan at some point. They were removed before 2008, when the only sheep in the archipelago were on Île Longue.[10] The fences on Île aux Moules were removed in 2012.
- ^ Following a visit in 1912, Baron Pierre Decouz reported that Île Longue could support "2,000 animals right now and up to 3,000 at most." Bizet sheep were then introduced to the island as a food source. By the early 21st century, approximately 3,500 semi-wild sheep were living on Île Longue, and the population was culled occasionally to provide meat for the scientific personnel stationed on the islands. The sheep suffered a high mortality rate at birth, approximately 25%, because they have not been able to adjust their reproductive cycle to coincide with the seasons of the southern hemisphere, resulting in mothers giving birth during the southern winters when food is less abundant. An eradication program began in 2008 and by 2012 had reduced the population to 400 rams; the aim was then to butcher these for meat over the following several years.[21] All sheep were removed from the island by the end of the 2014 season.[22] Ironically, the Bizet sheep breed is considered threatened in France and the largest population globally was on Kerguelen.
- ^ In 1957 two Corsican mouflons from the Vincennes Zoo in Paris were brought to Île Haute with the aim of breeding a population for hunting.[21] By 1968, there were around 50 mouflon.[20] The population grew quickly and reached an equilibrium of between 300 and 800 animals depending on the year. After a significant hunting effort beginning in 2008, the population was reduced to a single individual in 2012.[21]
- ^ Prior to the 1957 introduction on Île Haute, another pair of Corsican mouflons from Vincennes Zoo was released on the 2.5 km2 (0.97 sq mi) Îlot Blakeney in the Gulf of Morbihan in 1956. This pair died soon after.
Birds
[edit]| Scientific and common name(s) |
Image | Origin | Method of introduction | Grande Terre | Île Foch | Île Saint-Lanne Gramont | Île du Port | Île de l'Ouest | Île Longue | Île Haute | other islands | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anas platyrhynchos mallard |
.jpg) |
cosmopolitan | ???–present[a] | ||||||||||
| Gallus gallus domesticus poultry |
.jpg) |
Eurasia | food | ???[b] | |||||||||
Fish
[edit]| Scientific and common name(s) |
Image | Origin | Method of introduction | Grande Terre | Île Foch | Île Saint-Lanne Gramont | Île du Port | Île de l'Ouest | Île Longue | Île Haute | other islands |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oncorhynchus kisutch Coho salmon |
 |
North Pacific | 1978–present[10] | ||||||||
| Oncorhynchus mykiss Rainbow trout |
 |
1958–???[10] | |||||||||
| Oncorhynchus tshawytscha Chinook salmon |
 |
1955–???[10] | |||||||||
| Salmo salar Atlantic salmon |
 |
North Atlantic | 1975–present[a] | ||||||||
| Salmo trutta brown trout |
 |
Europe | 1958–present[b] | ||||||||
| Salvelinus alpinus Arctic char |
.jpeg){kind=small} |
circumpolar | 1990–present[10] | ||||||||
| Salvelinus fontinalis brook trout, brook charr |
 |
North America | 1961–present[10] | ||||||||
| Salvelinus namaycush lake trout |
.jpeg){kind=small} |
1961–???[10] |
Insects
[edit]Alfred Eaton's 1879 survey of the natural history of Kerguelen notes one species of introduced insect as well as 26 native species.[24]
| Scientific and common name(s) |
Image | Origin | Method of introduction | Grande Terre | Île Foch | Île Saint-Lanne Gramont | Île du Port | Île de l'Ouest | Île Longue | Île Haute | other islands |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus species common |
 |
? | ? | ?–present | ? | unknown | |||||
Plants
[edit]The French Southern and Antarctic Lands administration has identified 69 introduced spermatophyte plant species on the Kerguelen Islands, of which 12 are designated invasive.[25]
| Scientific and common name(s) |
Image | Origin | Method of introduction | Grande Terre | Île Howe | Île Haute | Île aux Moules | Île Australia | Île Guillou | Île Blakeney | Île Verte | Île Longue | other islands | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stellaria media chickweed |
 |
Europe | accidental | before 1874– present[a] |
||||||||||||
| Cerastium fontanum mouse-ear chickweed |
 |
Europe | accidental | before 1874– present[a][27] |
?–present[27] | ?–present[27] | ||||||||||
| Sagina procumbens procumbent pearlwort |
.jpg) |
Northern Hemisphere | accidental | ?– present[27] |
||||||||||||
| Taraxacum erythrospermum red-seeded dandelion |
 |
North America | accidental | ?–present[28] | ||||||||||||
| Taraxacum officinale common dandelion |
 |
Europe | accidental | ?–present[b] | ?–present[28] | ?–present[28] | ||||||||||
| Sherardia arvensis field madder |
.jpg) |
Eurasia and Macaronesia | accidental | ?– present[27] |
?– present[27] |
|||||||||||
| Poa pratensis common meadow grass |
 |
Europe | accidental | before 1874– present[a] |
||||||||||||
| Poa annua annual meadow grass |
 |
Europe | accidental | before 1874– present[a] |
||||||||||||
| Genus species common |
|
? | ? | ?–present | ? | unknown | ||||||||||
| Scientific and common name(s) |
Image | Origin | Method of introduction | Grande Terre | Île Howe | Île Haute | Île aux Moules | Île Australia | Île Guillou | Île Blakeney | Île Verte | Île Longue | other islands | |||
Footnotes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Eaton 1875, p. 36.
- ^ Chapuis, Frenot & Lebouvier 2004, p. 167.
- ^ Pansu et al. 2015, p. 1.
- ^ a b c d e de la Rüe 1932, p. 41.
- ^ a b TAAF 2013, p. 26.
- ^ Chapuis, Frenot & Lebouvier 2004, p. 168.
- ^ Chapuis et al. 2001, p. 324.
- ^ a b c Chapuis et al. 2001, p. 326.
- ^ a b Chapuis, Frenot & Lebouvier 2004.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Convey & Lebouvier 2009, p. 36.
- ^ Fessenden 2015.
- ^ Pansu et al. 2015, p. 2.
- ^ a b c d e Clark & Dingwall 1985, p. 55.
- ^ a b Kidder 1876, p. 38.
- ^ a b c de la Rüe 1932, p. 42.
- ^ a b Chapuis et al. 2001, p. 325.
- ^ Mills 2003, p. 191.
- ^ a b TAAF 2014, p. 23.
- ^ de la Rüe 1932, pp. 41–42.
- ^ a b Clark & Dingwall 1985, p. 54.
- ^ a b c TAAF 2013, pp. 26, 28.
- ^ TAAF 2015, p. 13.
- ^ Clark & Dingwall 1985, p. 52.
- ^ Hooker 1879a, p. 8.
- ^ TAAF 2014, p. 26.
- ^ Hooker 1879b, pp. 19, 22.
- ^ a b c d e f Pansu et al. 2015, Supplementary material.
- ^ a b c Pansu et al. 2015, Supplementary material, p. 3.
Sources
[edit]- Chapuis, J.L.; Frenot, Y.; Lebouvier, M (2004), "Recovery of native plant communities after eradication of rabbits from the subantarctic Kerguelen Islands, and influence of climate change", Biological Conservation, 117: 167–179, doi:10.1016/S0006-3207(03)00290-8
- Chapuis, J.L.; LeRoux, V.; Asseline, J.; Lefèvre, L; Kerlau, F. (2001), "Eradication of the rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) by poisoning, on three islands of the of the subantarctic Archipelago of Kerguelen", Wildlife Research, 28: 323–331
- Clark, Malcolm R.; Dingwall, Paul Richard (1985), Conservation of Islands in the Southern Ocean, IUCN
- Convey, Peter; Lebouvier, Marc (2009), "Environmental Change and Human Impacts on Terrestrial Ecosystems of the Sub-Antarctic Islands between their Discovery and the Mid-Twentieth Century" (PDF), Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 143 (1): 33–44
- de la Rüe, E. Aubert (1932), "La Flore et la Faune des Îles Kerguelen" [The Flora and Fauna of the Kerguelen Islands] (PDF), La Terre et La Vie (in French), 2 (1), Paris: Société nationale de protection de la nature et d'acclimatation de France: 29–51
- Eaton, Alfred Edwin (13 May 1875), "Natural History of Kerguelen's Island" (PDF), Nature, 12: 35–37, doi:10.1038/012035a0
- Fessenden, Marissa (9 September 2015), "Invasive Rabbits Change the Soil so Drastically you Can See the Effects Decades Later", Smithsonian Magazine
- Hooker, Joseph Dalton (1879a), "Observations on the Botany of Kerguelen Island", in Eaton, Alfred Edwin (ed.), An Account of the Petrological, Botanical, and Zoological Collection Made in Kerguelen's Land and Rodriguez During the Transit of Venus Expeditions 1874-75, Cambridge University Press
- Hooker, Joseph Dalton (1879b), "Flowering Plants, Fern, Lycopodiaceae, and Characeae", in Eaton, Alfred Edwin (ed.), An Account of the Petrological, Botanical, and Zoological Collection Made in Kerguelen's Land and Rodriguez During the Transit of Venus Expeditions 1874-75, Cambridge University Press
- Kidder, J.H. (1876), "Contribution to the Natural History of Kerguelen Island, Made in Connection with the United States Transit of Venus Expedition, 1874-75" (PDF), Bulletin of the United States National Museum, 3: 1–22
- Mills, William James (2003), Exploring Polar Frontiers: A Historical Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO
- Pansu, Johan; Winkworth, Richard C.; Hennion, Françoise; Gielly, Ludovic; Taberlet, Pierre; Choler, Philippe (2 September 2015), "Long-lasting modification of soil fungal diversity associated with the introduction of rabbits to a remote sub-Antarctic archipelago", Biology Letters, 11, doi:10.1098/rsbl.2015.0408
- TAAF (2013), Bilan d’activités 2012 de la réserve naturelle des Terres australes françaises [2012 Activity Report for the French Southern Territories Nature Reserve] (PDF) (in French)
- TAAF (2014), Bilan d’activités 2013 de la réserve naturelle des Terres australes françaises [2013 Activity Report for the French Southern Territories Nature Reserve] (PDF) (in French)
- TAAF (2015), Bilan d’activités 2014 de la réserve naturelle des Terres australes françaises [2014 Activity Report for the French Southern Territories Nature Reserve] (PDF) (in French)
- TAAF (2016), Bilan d’activités 2015 de la réserve naturelle des Terres australes françaises [2015 Activity Report for the French Southern Territories Nature Reserve] (PDF) (in French)
- TAAF (2017), Bilan d’activités 2016 de la réserve naturelle des Terres australes françaises [2016 Activity Report for the French Southern Territories Nature Reserve] (PDF) (in French)
- TAAF (2018), Bilan d’activités 2017 de la réserve naturelle des Terres australes françaises [2017 Activity Report for the French Southern Territories Nature Reserve] (PDF) (in French)