Ruth Williams (2018). Paradise Regained: How the Palmyra Atoll Got Rid of Invasive Mosquitoes. Retrieved from https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/paradise-regained-how-the-palmyra-atoll-got-rid-of-invasive-mosquitoes-30063 on 2018-11-17
On strings of islands considered to be paradise there exists invasive mosquitoes and rodent rats. The article describes that the rats and different types of mosquitoes have thrived in the conditions, given plenty of food and minimal predators. The victim are the seabirds which the rats and mosquitoes have feasted on to thrive. Mosquitoes also feast on rat populations, allowing for their sustainability. After a maintenance run in 2011 eradicating rat populations, mosquito populations have also diminished because of a lack of rats to extract blood from.
The interactions that rats, mosquitoes, and seabirds have with one another symbolize the complexity in the food chain, an idea heavily linked to environmental science. Learning how two pests survive off each other and other species such as seabirds is an idea fundamental in the symbiosis in any two species coexistence. The author mentions at the end that the two species arrived at the island in serendipity, however any two species could have arrived invasively: a flower and its pollinator for one. I think understanding species and their interactions with the environment allows for benefits to be maximized and exploitations to be minimized.
Do you think this method can be applied to areas that are not islands? I guess what I’m asking is would this be impossible to replicate if you weren’t a tiny island. Mosquitoes are vectors for a host of several serious diseases. Reducing the mosquito population in areas with malaria would be incredibly beneficial for humans.
What conditions allowed the mosquitoes to thrive? Do you think there was any other method that could have been used to get rid of them.
What can we learn from this invasive species that we can apply to our other problems with invasive species?
How can we eliminate the invasive species without using harsh chemicals or pesticides?
I wonder how the major reduce of rats and mosquitos has effected the rest of the ecosystem and environment they were intertwined with?