Biological invasions of island nature reserves

Abstract

The effects of invading plants and animals on six island reserves, and measures taken to control them, are reviewed as case studies. On many European and North American island reserves the effects of invading plants and animals are negligible, or at least manageable. Tropical and southern oceanic islands are vulnerable to invaders of continental origin for many reasons, often with disastrous consequences to the native biota. Severity of island invasion increases, in general, with increasing isolation from continents. Successful and unsuccessful control measures on several island reserves are reviewed and prospects for managing these reserves evaluated. With limited resources to finance such active management strategies, long-range plans must be carefully developed and supported by research and monitoring to rank problems in order of severity and tractability so as to ensure that realistic conservation goals can be achieved.