Australian rodent is 1st mammal to go extinct due to human-caused climate change
- Thread starter mentalfloss
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And we're absolutely sure it's the result of AGW and not natural climate change, right?
#You'llbelieveanyf*ckingthing
There’s really not much room on Bramble Cay, not even for a mouse. Natalie Waller Bramble cay melomys (Department of Environment and Heritage Protection)
At first I was like...
Dec 19, 2013 - Apr 6 2016:
Threatening processes
Threats to the species centre on three areas. Firstly there is only the single known population of the species and searches on other cays and in adjacent areas of New Guinea have failed to discover other populations. Secondly the cay is prone to inundation from storm surge and other disturbances. Further compounding risk to the species is that the species appears to be inbred. Therefore resilience of the species to catastrophic events such as cyclones, introductions of weeds or introduced predators, or the arrival of a novel disease is very low (Curtis et al 2012).
The most recent survey for the species in 2012 resulted in no animals being recorded. The most recent verified record of the species is from a trapping effort in 2004. It is possible that a catastrophic inundation of the island has already occurred.
But then I...
June 9, 2016:
Threatening processes
Being confined to a single, very small, isolated location, the species was susceptible to a range of threats. It appeared to be inbred, an intrinsic problem that raised doubts about the long term viability of the population. The Bramble Cay melomys was also vulnerable to threats posed by the introduction of weeds, predators and competitors, and novel diseases. Certainly, anecdotal reports indicate at least some individuals were killed by domestic dogs that were released onto the island from visiting boats, but also that the species was hunted by indigenous people who visited from PNG on a sporadic basis. Although the cay demonstrates seasonal fluctuations in size (involving periods of erosion or deposition as a result of prevailing winds, waves and tides), phases of significant erosion may have impacted directly on the Bramble Cay melomys by reducing the area available for the species to occupy or limiting the availability of potential daytime refuges in caves and crevices in phosphatic rock outcrops at the south-eastern end of the island. Most critically, however, the extent of herbaceous vegetation on Bramble Cay decreased dramatically during the 10-year period following 2004, when the species was last captured. The primary cause of this significant decline in habitat was repeated seawater penetration of the island’s interior, which killed or damaged the vegetation. With an elevation of only 3 m above high tide level, Bramble Cay is particularly vulnerable to ocean inundation. This appears to be the threat that eventually sealed the fate of its resident melomys population. Available evidence indicates that the anthropogenic climate change-induced impacts of sea-level rise, coupled with an increased frequency and intensity of weather events that produced damaging storm surges and extreme high water levels, particularly during the last decade, were most likely responsible for the extirpation of the Bramble Cay melomys from Bramble Cay.
Nominations are currently being prepared to amend the conservation status of the Bramble Cay melomys from endangered to extinct in the wild under both Queensland and Commonwealth legislation.
https://web.archive.org/web/2016050...d/endangered-animals/bramble_cay_melomys.html
#narrative