INSEAD Annual Report 2023-20143 test - Flipbook - Page 16
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Bertarelli Foundation
Island Reef Connections
Lead investigator: Professor Nick Graham,
Lancaster University
When seabirds forage at sea, they deliver large
quantities of nutrients back onto the islands on
which they roost and breed. The introduction of
the invasive black rat (Rattus rattus) has caused the
decimation of seabird populations on the islands
it had invaded. With seabirds gone, the precious
nutrient subsidies from their guano no longer
percolates through the islands to fertilise adjacent
reefs and support the fish and other animals that
live amongst them. The loss of these supplementary
nutrients affects the resilience and recovery rate
of reef communities in the face of other human
anthropogenic factors, such as climate change.
Seabird guano boosts nutrient cycles and affects
island ecosystems, coral reef ecology, and how coral
reefs form and change over time. As expected, these
important nutrients can increase plant biomass
on land and the abundance of land invertebrates.
Research by this team has also shown how seabird
guano can enhance coral reef productivity,
biodiversity, and how they work. The team are
conducting this research in the Chagos Archipelago,
Seychelles, and French Polynesia, incorporating into
their study sites, islands with and without rats, and
those with ongoing rat eradication programmes. The
research will help inform tropical island conservation
and restoration efforts all around the world.
