Reefs and rats
Posted on: Sun 15 Jul 2018
What have rats got to do with the number of fish on coral reefs? Quite a lot, according to new research. The black ship rat wreaks havoc on island seabirds globally, including throughout the Great Barrier Reef where it has been a pest for more than 200 years.
The animals eat the eggs of nesting birds and prey on the young, – reducing bird numbers on the islands they inhabit. To examine how these initial events trigger further problems, Barometer’s Des Lawrence spoke to Dr Andrew Hoey, Research Fellow in Ecosystem Dynamics at James Cook University.