Bramble Cay melomys: The first victim of global warming – Policy

The island Bramble Cay lies in the Torres Strait on the northern coast of the Australian state of Queensland. It is part of the Great Barrier Reef, the largest such aquatic environment in the world, and despite the fact that the island itself is extremely small, is a very important ecosystem for many animals.

Turtles green onto the dry land to take a breath after a long After soaking, and numerous species of birds treat it as a stopover on their soaring travels through the Torres Strait.

Until recently, the island was also home to a particular species of rodents – Bramble Cay melomys . It was an endemic species, which means that it did not exist anywhere in the world except this one particular environment. “Appeared” because scientists have just changed its qualification: the “endangered species” to “extinct”.

species extinctions occur every day. This case, however, is unusual, because studying the mystery of the disappearance of rodent scientists came to the conclusion that the immediate cause of death of these animals were the climate change caused by humans.

Bramble Cay melomys ( Melomys rubicola ) was discovered in 1845. the sailors, who stayed on the island, they reported that live on the rats, which shot using arrows and bullets. In 1978. Dealing with rodents, researchers have estimated that their population on the island is a few hundred individuals. The last time scientists have documented their existence in 2009. Since then, despite intensive searches have failed to hit the not one trace of rodent.

This year, the Office of Environment and Heritage Queensland in agreement with the University of Queensland made a final attempt to determine the population melomys on the island. The island is set more than 150 traps for rodents, which remained there for six nights, and conducted a detailed study of the island.

The conclusions of scientists have been presented in the report, the authors found that did not survive even one representative of the Bramble Cay melomys. What’s more, as the reason for its extinction, researchers pointed to rising sea levels, which resulted in continuous flooding of the island and the destruction of the natural environment melomys.