On many Pacific and Indian Ocean islands, colonization by humans brought invasive species, native vegetation destruction, and coconut plantations, leading to the decimation of seabird populations. The coconut industry on oceanic islands has since crashed, leaving the legacy of altered, impoverished ecosystems. Many island restoration projects eradicate invasive species, particularly rats, with the goal of restoring seabird-driven ecosystems. However, in the absence of converting abandoned plantations to habitat conducive to breeding seabirds, seabird-driven ecosystems may not fully recover after rat eradication. Here we quantify and, by resource selection function, confirm seabird habitat selection within the Chagos Archipelago, before estimating the potential difference in breeding abundance following rat eradication with and without active management of abandoned plantations. Using Ile du Coin as our primary example, we estimate that following rat eradication, but without plantation conversion, this island could potentially support 4,306 (±93) pairs of breeding seabird; if restored to habitat representative of associated rat-free islands, 138,878 (±1,299) pairs. If 1 km² of plantation is converted to produce 0.5 km² each of native forest and savanna, it could theoretically support 319,762 (±2,279) breeding pairs—more than the entire archipelago at present. Our research indicates that when setting restoration goals in the Chagos Archipelago, at least 55% of the restored habitat should be composed of native forest and savanna in order to support a viable seabird community. Our research enhances the prospects of successfully restoring seabird islands across the tropical landscape with wider benefits to native biodiversity.

中文翻译：

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在入侵性捕食者根除后，将废弃的椰子种植园转变为原生栖息地对繁殖海鸟的潜在好处

在许多太平洋和印度洋岛屿上，人类的殖民带来了入侵物种、原生植被破坏和椰子种植园，导致海鸟种群大量减少。大洋岛上的椰子产业从此崩溃，留下了改变、贫困的生态系统的遗产。许多岛屿恢复项目根除入侵物种，尤其是老鼠，目的是恢复海鸟驱动的生态系统。然而，如果没有将废弃的人工林转变为有利于繁殖海鸟的栖息地，在消灭老鼠后，海鸟驱动的生态系统可能无法完全恢复。在这里，我们量化并通过资源选择功能确认查戈斯群岛内的海鸟栖息地选择，在估计有和没有废弃种植园积极管理的老鼠根除后繁殖丰度的潜在差异之前。使用 Ile du Coin 作为我们的主要示例，我们估计在消灭老鼠之后，如果没有种植园转换，该岛可能支持 4,306 (±93) 对繁殖海鸟；如果恢复到代表相关无鼠岛的栖息地，则为 138,878 (±1,299) 对。如果 1 公里²种植园被转化以产生0.5公里²各原始森林和稀树草原，它可以在理论上支持319762（±2279）育种对-超过目前整个群岛。我们的研究表明，在查戈斯群岛设定恢复目标时，至少 55% 的恢复栖息地应由原生森林和稀树草原组成，以支持一个可行的海鸟群落。我们的研究提高了在热带景观中成功恢复海鸟岛的前景，并为本地生物多样性带来更广泛的好处。