When invasive rats are removed from islands, the ecological benefits can ripple across both land and sea more quickly than scientists expected, according to recent research. Scientists have long assumed that meaningful recovery after the predators are eradicated would take decades. However, researchers with the U.S.-based NGO Island Conservation conducted a rat-removal experiment on Ulong Island in Palau, which provides the first experimental evidence that ecosystems can rebound far more quickly than previously expected. Until recently, rats, which are typically nocturnal, were so abundant on Ulong Island that they were regularly seen during the day. They were a nuisance to campers and deadly for wildlife. As opportunistic omnivores, rats readily prey upon seabird eggs and chicks, devastating nesting colonies on tropical islands. As a result, there were “very few nesting seabirds that we would find,” Coral Wolf, the conservation science program manager at Island Conservation, told Mongabay in a video call. To measure the effects of rat eradication, Wolf designed an experiment in which all the rats were removed from Ulong, while the rats on nearby Ngeruktabel Island remained, serving as a control site. Before the eradication, researchers collected baseline biodiversity data. On land, they recorded bird calls and took soil samples. In the surrounding water, they measured indicators like fish biomass and coral cover. One year after rats were removed, the team repeated the survey and found a dramatic improvement in the biodiversity. Freed from rat predation, seabird activity on the island surged. Detections of bridled tern (Onychoprion anaethetus) calls rose by…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Peatlands are boggy wet ecosystems found from boreal forests in the Russian Arctic to the tropics of central Africa. Typically, when vegetation decomposes it releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. However, when that same organic matter falls in a bog and is covered with water, carbon gets trapped and becomes sequestered there, sometimes for millennia. This makes peatlands essential for the world’s carbon balance. Even though they cover just 3% of the Earth’s terrestrial surface, they store nearly a third of the world’s carbon. On this World Peatland Day, June 2, here’s a look at some of Mongabay’s recent peatland reporting: ‘Ancient’ carbon leaking from Congo Basin lakes The largest tropical peatland in the world, located in Africa’s Congo Basin, was only mapped about a decade ago. Scientists believe the Cuvette Centrale peatlands are roughly the size of England and hold some 30 billion metric tons of carbon. Researchers recently found some lakes in the Cuvette Centrale are slowly releasing ancient carbon. Using statistical modeling they estimated that much of the carbon being emitted locally is between 2,000 and 3,500 years old. “[I]t surprised us that almost half was coming from ancient peat carbon,” lead author of the study Travis Drake told Mongabay’s John Cannon. Scientists don’t yet know if the released carbon is a natural phenomenon or a result of something altering the system. Preserving Arctic peatlands with Indigenous knowledge In the frigid Arctic, melting permafrost from climate change is a big driver of carbon emissions from peatlands. Now,…This article was originally published on Mongabay