TheintroductionofforeignspeciestoHawaiihasgreatlyaffectedthepopulationsofthe

islandsnativespecies.Inmanycases,theintroductionofforeignspecieshaswipedoutthe
entirepopulationofcertainspecies,renderingthemextinct.Thisisespeciallydevastating
becausemanyofthesespeciesareendemic,meaningtheyarefoundonlyinoneparticular
locationandnowhereelseintheworld.ThemajorityofspecieslivinginHawaiiaretheresultof
thousandsofyearsofislandbiodiversity.Afewbirdsofonespeciesmigratefromsomedistant
islandduetosomerareoccurrenceofnatureandeventuallyevolveintoseveralnewspecies,
eachperfectlyadaptedtotheenvironmentinwhichithascometolive.Unfortunately,eachof
theseendemicspeciesisespeciallysusceptibletotheeffectsofinvasivespecies,whichmeans
theimpactonHawaiisanimallifehasbeentremendous.
WhengoatswerefirstintroducedtoHawaiibyCaptainCookinthelate1700s,they
immediatelybeganeatingallthelocalplantlife.Mostoftheseplantswereunusedtobeing
preyeduponuntiltheintroductionofforeignspeciesintotheirhabitat,andsosufferedmassive
populationlossfromgrazinganimals.Thegoatpopulation,ontheotherhand,grewrapidly,asit
hadnonaturalpredatorstokeepitincheck.TheintroductionofEuropeanpigstoHawaiihad
similareffectsonthenativespecies,although,duetoascarcityofproteininnaturalHawaiian
forests,theEuropeanpigpopulationdidnotgrowasrapidlyasthegoatsuntilthe1900swiththe
introductionofearthwormsandforeignplantswhichmadeuplargeportionsofthepigs'diets
(StoneandLoope1987).
Europeanpigsandgoatsarebothprimarilygrazinganimals,meaningtheirdietconsists
mostlyofplantlifefoundneartheground.Rats,mice,andmongooses,however,areeasilyable
toreachlowhangingbranchesoftreescontainingfruit,seeds,andsometimesevenbirdnests.
MongooseswerefirstintroducedtoMauiinthe1880stopreyuponratsinsugarcanefieldsand
quicklyextendedtheirrangetoincludealmosteveryhospitablenookintheisland.Theyfeedon
mostplantsandanimalssmallerthanthem,includinglizards,insects,crabs,rodents,small
birds,andespeciallyeggs(StoneandLoope1987).Thislargepreybaseofexoticspecieshas
allowedthemongoosepopulationtoincreaseindensityandrange,aswellasenablingitto
rapidlygainstabilitywhileexpandingintonewareas(Vitouseketal.1987).Mongoosesspread
rapidlyacrosstheislandofMaui,occupyingspaceanddevastatingthepopulationsofanynative
speciesintheirterritory.Therehasbeenmuchdebateoverwhetherornotthemongoosesarea
limitingfactoronthenativebirdspeciesofHawaii,particularlythegroundnestingspecies,since
theywillofteneateggsandevengoslingbirds(StoneandLoope1987).
Humansarenotonlyindirectlyresponsibleforthereductionandextinctionofnative
Hawaiianspeciesthroughtheintroductionofinvasivespecies,butarealsosometimesthedirect
cause.TheTownsend'sshearwater,oneofthehandfulofsurvivingHawaiianseabirds,are
greatlyaffectedbythelightpollutionfrombothurbanandresortlocationsinHawaii.Thesebirds,
whosebreedingcolonieswereundiscovereduntilthelate1960s,areblindedanddisoriented
whileflyingfrominlandnestingareastothecoast,causingthemtocrash,ofteninthedeveloped
areasproducingthelights,wheretheyareusuallykilledbycarsorhouseholdpets(Scottetal.
1988).Youngershearwatersarethemostsusceptibletobeingdisorientedbylightpollution
therefore,themajorityofbirdskilledthiswayaretooyoungtohavereproduced,leadingtoa
shearwaterpopulationofmostlyolderbirdswithfewyoungtotaketheirplaceandensurethe
continuedsurvivaloftheirownspecies.Thisproblem,firstobservedin1961,haselevatedas

moreandmorelandwasdevelopedinresponsetoHawaii'sboomingtourisminthe1970s.
Recently,newmethodshavebeenputintoactionhopingtoreduceincludingtheuseof
lightblockingshieldstoreducelightpollution.

WorksCited
Scott,J.M.,C.B.Kepler,C.vanRiperIII,andS.I.Fefer.1988.ConservationofHawaii'svanishing
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Stone,C.P.,andL.L.Loope.1987.Reducingnegativeeffectsofintroducedanimalsonnative
biotasinHawaii:Whatisbeingdone,whatneedsdoing,andtheroleofnationalparks.
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Vitousek,P.M.,L.L.Loope,andC.PStone.1987.IntroducedspeciesinHawaii:Biologicaleffects
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