“Midway’s unique assemblage of flora and fauna make it an important laboratory for restoration ecology and conservation science. Insects, often overlooked, are especially unique in island ecosystems.” Midway is the world’s largest albatross colony and provides globally significant breeding grounds and migration stopover points for more than 3 million birds from nearly 30 different species. Midway is also described as a “seabird island,” because seabirds function as keystone species—that is to say, many other species in Midway’s ecosystem depend on albatross and other prolific seabird species. By bringing in enormous amounts of marine-derived nutrients via guano (fancy term for bird poop) as well as fish scraps, seabirds largely drive these island systems where ecosystem function, structure, and processes are largely nutrient-dependent. In, the nutrients brought in by seabirds support extraordinarily abundant populations of insects, amphibians, plants, and a host of other species on seabird islands.
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“Predation of seabirds and other at-risk wildlife is a direct and alarming impact of mice—but there is more than meets the eye with these widespread rodents.” “This was something we had never expected to occur. Mice preying on adult albatrosses simply hasn’t been recorded here.” From the surface, Midway seems like a pristine place; but a closer examination reveals a colorful past and layered landscape. Restoration of this island system has been an ongoing (and challenging) activity since Midway’s transfer to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in 1996. Islands are dynamic places, quick to change and quick to respond. But, in the winter of 2015, something unexpected happened on Midway. Midway’s beloved birds, albatross (or, more colloquially known as “gooney birds”), are the signature wildlife of Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. One of the wonders of the wide Pacific Ocean is that of a Laysan Albatross / Mōlī (Phoebastria immutabilis) gliding across the waves and wind, seemingly without effort. They are made for a life at sea—and indeed, they spend the majority of their lives soaring throughout the North Pacific, upwards of 90% of their entire lifetime in the sky and at sea. They cover extensive tracts, sometimes hundreds of miles a day, way out west to Japan, north to the Aleutian Islands, or even eastwards to California in search of food (typically squid, fish eggs, and occasionally crustaceans).
Mention of Midway brings to mind myriads of birds. But, there's more to Midway... Located at the far end of the extensive Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is one of the most remote atolls in the world—more than 1,500 miles north-west from Honolulu, Oʻahu. Home to the world’s largest albatross colony (and more than 20 other migratory and breeding seabirds and shorebirds), Midway Atoll NWR evokes the idea of an isolated, pristine environment. However, after decades of dredging, building, digging, moving, and bulldozing, Midway Atoll NWR is far from it—making wildlife conservation, habitat restoration, and invasive species control both challenging and rewarding. |
About MeWieteke Holthuijzen: budding environmental scientist, passionate birder. Archives
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