Eradication of the Brown Rat from the Toro Islets (Corsica):remarks about an unwanted colonizer
THIBAULT J.C.Abstract:
Between 1986 and 1988 the Brown Rat (Rattus rattus) was introduced onto the Toro Islets, an important piace for breeding birds (Cory's Shearwater Ca/oneetris diomedea, Storm Petrel . Hydrobates pelagieus, Pallid Swift Apus pallidus, and other birds). The aims of this paper are: (i) to describe and discuss the method used to eliminate the rats from these islets in 1991-1992, (ii) to show the consequences of the Brown Rat's introduction on seabirds on Corsican islets. Keeping islands free from rats appears to be a major target for the conservation of seabirds in the Mediterranean.