Palmyra's native species rebound after rats' removal

By Susan Scott

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Feb 11, 2013

~~<p>Last week I came home from a trip to a good-news email. A year after a team of workers made an enormous effort to get rid of rats on Palmyra Atoll, a national wildlife refuge 1,000 miles south of Hawaii, its islands remain rat-free.</p>
<p>The workers are breathing a sigh of relief, as are the atoll's plants and animals. In one year, biologists found a 367 percent increase in native crabs, insects and spiders and a 130 percent increase in native tree seedlings.</p>
~~

Last week I came home from a trip to a good-news email. A year after a team of workers made an enormous effort to get rid of rats on Palmyra Atoll, a national wildlife refuge 1,000 miles south of Hawaii, its islands remain rat-free.

The workers are breathing a sigh of relief, as are the atoll's plants and animals. In one year, biologists found a 367 percent increase in native crabs, insects and spiders and a 130 percent increase in native tree seedlings. Login for more...