Biological Invasions (2009) 11, 1653-1670

A. Traveset, M. Nogales, J.A. Alcover, J.D. Delgado, M. López-Darias, D. Godoy, J.M. Igual and P. Bover (2009)
A review on the effects of alien rodents in the Balearic (Western Mediterranean Sea) and Canary Islands (Eastern Atlantic Ocean)
Biological Invasions 11 (7), 1653-1670
Abstract: Invasions of alien rodents have shown to have devastating effects on insular ecosystems. Here we review the ecological impacts of these species on the biodiversity of the Balearic and the Canary Islands. A total of seven species of introduced rodents (two rats, three mice, one dormouse, and one squirrel) have been recorded (six in the Balearics and four in the Canaries). Some of them can occasionally be important predators of nesting seabirds, contributing to the decline of endangered populations in both archipelagos. Rats are also known to prey upon terrestrial birds, such as the two endemic Canarian pigeons. Furthermore, rats actively consume both vegetative and reproductive tissues of a high number of plants, with potential relevant indirect effects on vegetation by increasing erosion and favoring the establishment of alien plants. In the Balearics, rats and mice are important seed predators of endemic species and of some plants with a restricted distribution. In the Canaries, rats intensively prey upon about half of the fleshy-fruited tree species of the laurel forest, including some endemics. In both archipelagos, alien rodents disrupt native plant-seed dispersal mutualisms, potentially reducing the chances of plant recruitment at the same time that they modify the structure of plant communities. We further suggest that alien rodents played (and play) a key role in the past and present transformation of Balearic and Canarian native ecosystems.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Anna Traveset

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
environment - cropping system/rotation
damage/losses/economics

---

Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Apodemus sylvaticus		Spain (Baleares)
	Mus musculus		Spain (Canary Is.)
	Mus musculus		Spain (Baleares)
	Rattus rattus		Spain (Canary Is.)
	Rattus rattus		Spain (Baleares)
	Rattus norvegicus		Spain (Canary Is.)
	Rattus norvegicus		Spain (Baleares)
	Atlantoxerus getulus		Spain (Canary Is.)