2021 – California Islands Conservation

In February 2020, we connected with a member of the FIF (Farallon Islands Foundation). The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a lack of visitors to the islands where these organizations work, thereby affecting their source of funding. Having travelled across California and having seen the diversity of wildlife on some of these islands, this is a cause we are honored to support. We learned about a network of foundations, based in California, with the goal of preserving the flora and fauna on islands where numbers are currently declining. This network includes: Island Conservation Society (Santa Cruz, CA), Seacology (Berkeley, CA), Farallon Islands Foundation, Point Blue (Petaluma/Bolinas) To keep the mission alive, we are creating a virtual interactive exhibit to raise awareness to some of the problems encountered by these organizations as they try to preserve the native inhabitants of these islands.

Support the Movement:

Visit the following websites:

Island Conservation Society
Seacology Organization
Farallon islands foundation
Point Blue Organization

Want to volunteer

Anacapa Island – Rat Eradication Experiment

Anacapa Island is in the California coastal sage and chaparral ecoregion within the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome (Olson et al. 2001). It is part of the Channel Islands National Park. Black rats were first reported on Anacapa Island in the early 1900s (Banks 1966; Collins 1979). By 1975 all other nonnative mammals introduced to Anacapa Island (cats Felis catus, rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus, and sheep Ovis aries) had been eradicated or died out (McChesney and Tershy 1998). In the late 1990s the Channel Islands National Park, the nongovernmental organization Island Conservation, and the American Trader Trustee Council (consisting of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) partnered to plan the rat eradication.

Thirty-five native vertebrate species have been reported breeding on Anacapa Island: 2 lizards, 1 amphibian, 21 land birds, 10 seabirds, and 1 mammal. Rate eradication had a varying degree of effect on each of these species.

The following exhibit depicts the effect of Black Rat eradication in 2003 (nov. 2002 to be precise) on the slender salamander population found on the island.

Note: The slender salamander population is represented below on the Y axis in mean numbers per cover board.

Observe the effect on the Salamander population, if the rat eradication would have happened in the earlier years.

If rats were eradicated in year:
Important Note: This simulation is for demonstration purpose only. There are many factors that affect the actual population of the species. IN this case the amount of rainfall also to have played a very significant role in the salamander population.

Anacapa Island – Fox Survival Challenge

Introduction of any invasive species either in the form of Flora or Fauna in the island eco system, invariably has a grave impact on the live native habitats on the island. With an arrival of feral cats, the native foxes on the Anacapa island started experiencing stiff competition in finding food for their survival.

For our younger visitors, we have created an interactive game that helps them understand the challenges faced by the foxes in avoiding the cats and outwitting them in grabbing the food for survival.

Please follow us to this exhibit by clicking the following button: