FN Archimer Export Format
PT J
TI Rat eradication restores nutrient subsidies from seabirds across terrestrial and marine ecosystems
BT 
AF Benkwitt, Cassandra E.
   Gunn, Rachel L.
   Le Corre, Mathieu
   Carr, Peter
   Graham, Nicholas A.J.
AS 1:1;2:1;3:2;4:3,4;5:1;
FF 1:;2:;3:;4:;5:;
C1 Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK
   UMR ENTROPIE, Université de La Réunion, IRD, CNRS, IFREMER, Université de Nouvelle-Calédonie, Avenue René Cassin, 97490 Sainte Clotilde, La Réunion
   Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent’s Park, London NW1 4RY, UK
   Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UK
C2 UNIV LANCASTER, UK
   UNIV LA REUNION, FRANCE
   ZOOL SOC LONDON, UK
   UNIV EXETER, UK
UM ENTROPIE
IN WOS Cotutelle UMR
   copubli-europe
IF 10.9
TC 27
UR https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00690/80242/93575.pdf
LA English
DT Article
DE ;coral reef;cross-ecosystem nutrients;eradication;invasive species;island nutrient subsidy;rat ecosystem recovery;seabird tropics
AB Biological invasions pose a threat to nearly every ecosystem worldwide.1,2 Although eradication programs can successfully eliminate invasive species and enhance native biodiversity, especially on islands,3 the effects of eradication on cross-ecosystem processes are unknown. On islands where rats were never introduced, seabirds transfer nutrients from pelagic to terrestrial and nearshore marine habitats, which in turn enhance the productivity, biomass, and functioning of recipient ecosystems.4, 5, 6 Here, we test whether rat eradication restores seabird populations, their nutrient subsidies, and some of their associated benefits for ecosystem function to tropical islands and adjacent coral reefs. By comparing islands with different rat invasion histories, we found a clear hierarchy whereby seabird biomass, seabird-driven nitrogen inputs, and the incorporation of seabird-derived nutrients into terrestrial and marine food chains were highest on islands where rats were never introduced, intermediate on islands where rats were eradicated 4–16 years earlier, and lowest on islands with invasive rats still present. Seabird-derived nutrients diminished from land to sea and with increasing distance to rat-eradicated islands, but extended at least 300 m from shore. Although rat eradication enhanced seabird-derived nutrients in soil, leaves, marine algae, and herbivorous reef fish, reef fish growth was similar around rat-eradicated and rat-infested islands. Given that the loss of nutrient subsidies is of global concern,7 that removal of invasive species restores previously lost nutrient pathways over relatively short timescales is promising. However, the full return of cross-ecosystem nutrient subsidies and all of their associated demographic benefits may take multiple decades. 
PY 2021
PD JUL
SO Current Biology
SN 0960-9822
PU Elsevier BV
VL 31
IS 12
UT 000670441200009
DI 10.1016/j.cub.2021.03.104
ID 80242
ER

EF