Restoring the Flow: Stream Life Slowly Returns After Rabbit Eradication on Macquarie Island
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The remote streams of subantarctic Macquarie Island are home to low diversity freshwater invertebrate communities with an unusual taxonomic composition. However, over a century of grazing by introduced rabbits dramatically degraded surrounding vegetation, increasing erosion and disturbing stream ecosystems. Following rabbit eradication in 2016, Dr Richard Marchant of Museums Victoria and colleagues from the University of Canberra and the Australian Antarctic Division investigated whether the island’s streams were recovering ecologically. Their study reveals a slow but measurable resurgence of invertebrate taxa, particularly in areas with moderate prior damage and vegetation regrowth, though full recovery remains uncertain.
Author: Richard Marchant
Language: English
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life on land
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W4411237651