It's been 10 years since Macquarie Island was declared pest free. Scientists say the transformation of the World Heritage-listed area has been extraordinary, but new threats are on the horizon.
It's been 10 years since a massive pest eradication program removed all rabbits and rodents from Macquarie Island .
The island's tussock grasslands and mega-herbs also became severely degraded, with widespread erosion causing the loss of vital habitat for nesting seabirds.But 10 years on from the completion of the world's largest pest eradication program, Macquarie Island is returning to its former glory. By 2014, the island was declared a pest-free haven, with no introduced species spotted in the previous two years.
"This eradication effort was the largest eradication of rodents undertaken anywhere in the world, so it was a huge feat to pull off," he said.'Spectre' of future threats keeps scientists on alert "Without this long-term data, it's really hard to identify change, and change can occur for a whole range of reasons," he said."But we've got climate changes on Macquarie Island, we've got the spectre of avian influenza, we've got a lot of potential change.
Macquarie Island Science Research Pest Sub-Antarctic
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