Islands with large colonies of seabirds are found throughout the globe. Seabird islands provide nesting and roosting sites for birds that forage at sea, deposit marine nutrients on land, and physically alter these islands. Habitats for numerous endemic and endangered animal and plant species, seabird islands are therefore biodiversity hotspots with high priority for conservation.

Successful campaigns to eradicate predators (e.g., rats and cats) from seabird islands have been conducted worldwide. However, removal of predators will not necessarily lead to natural recovery of seabirds or other native species. Restoration of island ecosystems requires social acceptance of eradications, knowledge of how island food webs function, and a long-term commitment to measuring and assisting the recovery process.

This book, written collaboratively by and for ecologists and resource managers, provides the first large-scale cross-system compilation, comparison, and synthesis of the ecology of seabird island systems. Offering a new conceptual framework into which to fit the impacts of seabirds on island ecology, this is an essential resource for academics and resource managers alike.

Features:

• Proves the first large-scale cross-system comparisons of seabird islands
• Global focus: identifies a globally widespread ecosystem, the threats to it and methods that can be applied to resolve these threats
• Connects the restoration of islands through predator removal and native species re-establishment with community and ecosystem processes that support those species
• Contributors bring first-hand experience of fifteen island systems, and reference over 250 islands and archipelagos that cover a broad range of climatic variables, vegetation types, and human histories.