Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 5 hrs ago
Removing invasive rats could help low-lying islands keep pace with rising seas
A team led by marine ecologist Nick Graham studied 28 islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans to examine how rats and forest cover affect reefs and island stability.
Rats brought to islands by ships eat seabird eggs and chicks, leaving many atolls with few nesting birds.
Rat-free islands had more seabirds, whose droppings carry nutrients from the ocean onto land and into nearby reefs.
Lagoon reefs near those islands grew upward about 1.8 times faster, while surrounding reefs produced 2.3 to 2.8 times as much sand.
Faster-growing reefs could nearly match projected sea-level rise in the central Indian Ocean by 2100 under a scenario of 2°C of warming, while reefs near rat-infested islands are expected to fall short of even current sea-level rise.
Reefs that keep pace can weaken waves before they reach shore, and more sand may help islands build up, so the findings suggest that removing rats could support atoll resilience.
Removing invasive rats could help low-lying islands keep pace with rising seas by allowing seabird populations to return.
A study of 28 islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans linked seabirds with faster lagoon reef growth and greater sand production.
Lagoon reefs beside rat-free islands rose at an estimated 5.9 millimeters a year, 1.8 times the rate beside rat-infested islands.
Reefs around seabird islands produced 2.3 to 2.8 times as much sand.
The researchers said native forests also produce more fine roots than coconut-palm-dominated areas, helping hold soil in place.
- Who
- A team led by Nick Graham, a marine ecologist at Lancaster University, studied the islands.
- What
- The study found that removing invasive rats could help seabirds return and support reef growth and sand production.
- When
- The article was published on November 4, 2026. The study period is not stated.
- Where
- The team measured factors on 28 islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
- Why
- Seabird droppings provide nutrients that support reef growth and sand production, while native forest roots can help hold soil in place.
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- Islands studied
- 28 in the Indian and Pacific Oceans
- Lagoon reef rise beside rat-free islands
- 5.9 millimeters a year
- Rate compared with rat-infested islands
- 1.8 times as fast
- Sand production around seabird islands
- 2.3 to 2.8 times as much
- Projected sea-level rise by 2100
- About 6 millimeters a year in the central Indian Ocean under 2°C of warming
What people are saying
Atoll islands are not static, they are naturally active systems that can change and adapt to their environmental conditions if they are allowed to do so.
The increase in sediment production by seabirds was something that had not been investigated before, and the increase is quite dramatic.
The study shows beautifully how atolls are an intimately interconnected island-reef system, a geo-ecological system.