Impacts of invasive rats and tourism on a threatened island bird: the Palau Micronesian Scrubfowl

Tourism negatively impacts the Palau Micronesian Scrubfowl, a threatened island bird, by increasing invasive rat populations and reducing scrubfowl detection rates. A study comparing five tourist-visited and five tourist-free islands in Palau's Rock Island Southern Lagoon found that rat detection probability and occupancy were significantly higher on tourist-visited islands (89% and 99%, respectively) compared to tourist-free ones (52% and 73%). Scrubfowl were detected at more stations on tourist-free islands (93%) than tourist-visited ones (47%), with a non-significant trend toward lower abundance in the latter. While rat occupancy did not significantly affect scrubfowl numbers, the study suggests that tourism may indirectly harm scrubfowl populations by facilitating rat proliferation, which could have broader implications for other threatened island landbirds.

RADLEY, P. M., DAVIS, R. A., & DOHERTY, T. S. (2020). Impacts of invasive rats and tourism on a threatened island bird: the Palau Micronesian Scrubfowl. Bird Conservation International, 31(2), 206–218. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0959270920000246