We found that the impacts of exotic species are more severe on islands with more exotic species and a greater proportion of native species that are endemic. Unexpectedly, the level of anthropogenic disturbance did not influence an island’s susceptibility to the impacts of exotic species.

This research was conducted as part of my undergraduate research project for the Advanced Studies Program in Science, with supervisors Hugh Possingham, Oscar Venter, Richard Fuller, James Watson.

Fig 1 from paper: The variation in the level of biological impacts of exotic species across islands globally, shown by a different colour for each quartile.

Publication

Walsh JC, Venter O, Watson JEM, Fuller RA, Blackburn TM, Possingham HP. 2012. Exotic species richness and native species endemism increase the impact of exotic species on islands. Global Ecology and Biogeography 21:841–850.