The effects of feral goats (Capra hircus) on island ecosystems

Author:

Coblentz, Bruce E.

Title:

The effects of feral goats (Capra hircus) on island ecosystems

Periodical:

Biological Conservation

Year:

1978

Volume:

13

Pages:

279-286

Subject:

Goats Feral goats Island ecology

Summary:

Feral goats, (Capra hircus), have been identified as severe threats to island ecosystems with regard to habitat destruction and the alteration of species composition on sensitive insular ecosystems. This is due to the fact that goats have become the ecologically dominant species on many islands, (in the absence of population control), with the result that numerous endemic plant species have been extirpated, or are threatened by excessive grazing. As a result, the objectives of this study were: to summarize what is known about the effects that goats have had upon insular ecosystems, (such as in Hawaii), and to point out the need for further research so that they might be controlled.

Label:

Animals

URL:

http://cletus.uhh.hawaii.edu:2069/science/journal/00063207

Date:

June 1978

Collection:

Periodicals