Managing Offshore Island Reserves

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food. Such dependence has produced rapid population. In the eventof a catastrophesuch as the morphological changes in some recently isolated lossof the birds or the introductionof rats tle species populations in Bass Strait. Chappell Island tiger would be in a real difficulty and quick action would snales may grow to 2 m ir length and eat muttonbird be neededto prolongthe survivalof the species. chicks which weigh up to 750 g at 9 weeks of age. TRANSLOCATIONAND The islands are increasingly important as a breeding refuge for resident beach birds that suffer RE-ESTABLISHMENT excessive disturbance from people on adjacent Magpies, kookaburras, pheasants, quail, peacock, mainlandbeaches in summer. rabbits and fallow deer are amongst those fauna to have been deliberately established on Tasmaniar Seasonalmigration of birds across Bass Strait islandsfor the short-termconvenience of man. Native iavolves a signfica-nt portion of the Tasmanitrn faura have a.lso been introduced to enhanco avifauna including many speciesof waterfowl, waders, short-term appreciationof an islald or under the small passerinesand others. Some fly directly but misapprehensionthat long term survivalof the species others island hop using good or shelter available on would result. Most such htroduced species are the islands(e.9. the Orarge-belliedParrot). destinedto extinctionon islandswhere habitat is not Until recentlyth(r FurneauxGroup supportedthe actively managcdfor them. main breedingpopulation of the Cape Baren goose. A major official progran of translocationof native Maragement of theseislands for breedinggeese has fauna was carried out twenry years ago on Maria iacreasedthe raage and abundanceof the species Island. In the late 1960sMaria Island off the central wbilst maintainiug the breeding population and east coast ol Tasmaniawas offered for sale because reducing some conllict with pastoralists. grazingsheep, which had occupiedthe ownersfor the Islands off the south coast contair relic past 50 years, became uneconomical. The populations of two of Tasmania'srarest endemic Governmentpurchased it for a nationalpark because vertebrate speciesthe Forty-spottedpardalote and the island was once a whaling and convict settlement. the Pcdra Branca Skink. The skink reaches a It also happens to contair the largest area (nearly marinum length of approximately 200 mm, occurs 10 000 ha) of mixed dry sclerophyll plant communities ooly on Pedra Branca Island, a 2.5 ha sandstoue to be reservedany where in the State. But as far as outcrop 26 km south of Tasmaniacovered by nestirg animalswere concernedit wasseen as somethilg of a gar:ncts and albatrosses. It lives under rocks or in poor deal. The original native mammal fauna known crevices and eats regurgitated fish accidentally to be on the islard at the tine included the dropped by the birds whilst feeding their chicks from Tasmanianpademelon, southern potoroo, ring tailed Septemberto Mauch(Rounsevell, et a/. 1985). possum.easterD pigmy possum.common wombat. echidna,velvet furred rat, water rat and somebats of There are only al estimated 200 to 300 skinls ilr tie genus Eptesicus. Brushtail possums and population the speciesis regarded as rare the alrd Tasmanian native-hen were also well established The sizein the populationand the aad endangered. having been talen to the island by a grazier a decade is regzudedas rare and endangered.The size species or so prior. Exotic feral and pest speciespresent at populationis limited by the amountof available of the the time were fallow deer, sheep,fcral cat, rabbit, (and possiblytood) on the islandand could be shclter ship rat and house mouse. The sheep and rabbits hcreasing the amount of increased by artficially were subsequentlyremoved, exterminated or died out. available shelter, but they would remain totally dependent upon the breeding of gannets or In the period between 1969 ar'd 1971 when the albatrosseson the islandevery year. island was berng declared a national park the wildlife authoritissset aboutto "restock"the isiandwith native loss scabirdsor the introductionof rats The of the mammalsand birds consideredto be appropriatefor signal the demiseof the spccies. It has beeu could such a park. Reasonsadvalced for doing this wore Pedra Branca Island for approximately isolated on biologicallyunsourd and seemnow to have been an years and no other suitable island free of 15 000 over reaction to the initial issue of woodchip licences to which the specics could be readily competitors, to private companies tbroughout the state at that exists. FortunatelyPedra Branca Island translocated, time. The result is a seriesof populatiou explosions remote, difficult of access and rarely visited, but is the effects of which are contiauing to unfold and a wrecked on its shore and boats have been major mar:agementcost to monitor, interpret and of the island should include periodic managemsnt counterthose effects. monitorhg of the seabird colony ard the skink

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flora of islands. Subantarctic Macquarie Islaad has The virus is actively depressing and thus had all tbree for a century or more ard the history of controlling rabbit numbers. Before its iatroduction their introductionard effect upon the island biota is rabbit abuadarce increased rapidly in years of low well documentedelsewhere. rainfatl probably because the rabbits, like the rabbit fleas, could not breed very successfully ir wet During the late 1960s and early 1970sdebate burrows. The driest year since the introduction of about the role of rabbits in erosionwas intenseard myxoma itrus occurred in 1984 and there was not rabbits and programs were initiated to study the even a hint of an incrEaseiu rabbit numbers in plots methodsfor their control. It was ultinately decided beingmonitored for that purpose. that mlxomatosis was the only availablemethod likely to provide signficant control of the rabbits (Brothers MAN-INDUCED CIIANGES et al.1982). Sinccuo naturalvectots for Ihe myxoma virus were available on the islaad rabbit fleas had to Some of the most difficult but satislying land be introducedfirst. They took almosta decadeto be managementis involved in restoring neglected islalds widely established on the island where wet burrows to a more usefulor acceptableform. ChappellIsland, often limited their breeding. This allowed time for in BassStrait, is 350 ha in area and the centre piece detailed studies of the causesfor the distdbution and of the ChappellIslands Nature Reserve. The reserve abuadanceof rabbits ou the islar:d. In retrospect this was declaredin 1975to protect breedinghabitat for work paid off becauseinformation against which the Cape Barren geese (Eberhard and Pearse 1981). long tcrm effectivenessol tl.e myxoma virus can be Chappell Island had a history of grazing by leasees assessedis now available. some of whom badly neglected the pastures established for stock after the original native no Prior to the ir:troducrionol myxoma serious vegetationhad beencleared. For som€thirty yearsat wekas, effort to eradicatccats, rats or StewartIsland least, this island has had serious infestations of made. A similar another introduced predator,was slenderthistle alrd hoarhound. Theseweeds seriously investigatile approach was adopted and it was found limit the potential of the islard for geese arr'dgrazing tbr that cats ard wekas depended upon young rabbits reducingthe areaof usefulpastue by at least5070. tood duringwinter and the rats \ cre Dot a scrious threat to efsting fauna. Consequentlyall the available In 1958Mary Gilham made recommendationson resourceswere initially put into rabbit control management of the island. In 1974 further invcstigations of the island by agricultural officers Following the introduction of the Lausanre strain intorestedin its welfarewers made in 1978N.P.W.S. rabbit of the mlttoma virus in November 1978 the officers prepared a works program for its future from the population was substantially eradicated managementbut most of the work has not been done population northernhalf of the isla_nd.The lsrleining through lack of money. Resourcesprovided are has continuedto bc depressedby artificial spreading currently exhaustedon monitoring goose production injuring of the virus by various methods including on the island but the mrmber of goslings fledged has rifles' rabbits with infected wads shot from air decreased. After a peak production year of 994 Monitoring of rabbit abundanceard the recovery of goslingsin 1982the island produced only 253 goslirgs half of flora has continued. On the ruggedsouthern during a drought in 1984 because only '10% of the the island rabbits can effectively live ir isolation from former number of breeding pairs remained on the a the natural spread of fleas and virus ald island. Sincethe populatior of Cape Barren geeseis methods of combination of artificial spread and other expandingin BassStrait generallythere has been no rabbit rabbit control needs to be implementedif need to repair the island to attract more breeding numbersare to be further reduced. geese. and In 1985 the virus was still effective The island is leased for tbe grazing of sheep to In 1986it occasionallyspreading of its own accord. utilize the pasture and help maintain it in a condition its effects on will be tested for any attenuation of which the geesecar also use. ChappellIsland is one renarkably rabbits. Thc Lausannestrain has been of approxinately40 islandsunder lease,or freehold, has the successfulon Macquarie Island. it allowed which is being grazed by sheep. In the Furneaux plant associations recovery of previouslyoverglazed Group particularly,where the geeseand sheepshare and assisted in the control of the introduced pasture,its care is a commongoal but for Chappell having fewer predators; cats and wekas. The cats, Islandthis goal hasnot beenfully rcalised. rabbits in winter, appear to be preying upon the wekaswhich are now quite rare.

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