Abundance and diets of rats in two native Hawaiian forests

Author:

Sugihara, Robert T.

Title:

Abundance and diets of rats in two native Hawaiian forests

Periodical:

Pacific Science

Year:

1997

Volume:

51

Pages:

189-198

Subject:

Mice Rats Rain forests

Summary:

Colonization by humans has resulted in the introduction of rats (Rattus spp.) and mice (Mus musculus) to most major islands in the Pacific Ocean that have caused a myriad of economic, health, and ecological problems throughout the region. Ecological disruptions have been particularly devastating to insular communities with flora and fauna that evolved in the absence of predators. The loss and destruction of habitat by humans, disease, and competition from introduced plants and animals, virtually eliminated many of Hawaii's endemic biota from the lowlands and middle-elevation areas and most of the extant native species, especially the forest birds, now survive in relatively low numbers in restricted areas of the remnant rain forests that exist in the high elevations. While the Polynesian rat (Rattus exulans), the Norway rat (R. norvegicus), and the Roof rat (R. rattus), have all been implicated in the decline of threatened and endangered plants, snails, and birds in Hawaii, information on rodent populations, and their role as potential predators in native forests was lacking. However, since such information could shed insight on the conservation of Hawaii's endemic resources, the author determined, in this document, the relative abundance and diets of black and Polynesian rats during wet and dry periods, (winter and summer). This was done in two upper-elevations montane Hawaiian rain forest preserves that were relatively undisturbed. These areas were located on the northeastern slope of Haleakala, (on the island of Maui), that contained most of the last remnant populations of four endangered bird species. Snap traps were set and monitored in the two rain forests to determine the relative abundances, distributions, and diets of rodents.

Label:

Animals

URL:

http://hdl.handle.net/10125/3110

Date:

1997

Collection:

Periodicals