Tropical Island Rodent Eradications: A Proposed Model to Improve Outcomes

Recent failures of tropical island rat eradications have spurred a re-appraisal of the approach required to increase the success rate. A review of some failures implies that direct transfer of the temperate island eradication strategy to tropical islands, based on a ‘seasonal vulnerability’ model, may be erroneous, and particularly so for ‘wet’ tropical islands with year-round breeding by rodents. A new model based on intra-specific competition is proposed, with suggested research avenues to tease out aspects of rodent population dynamics that may make rodents vulnerable to eradication techniques in tropical islands