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The status of the invertebrate fauna on the South Atlantic island of St Helena: problems, analysis, and recommendations

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Abstract

We present an analysis of the invertebrates of St Helena using an invertebrate conservation evaluation framework, to review invertebrate data, highlight knowledge gaps and prioritise invertebrate conservation needs that perhaps could be applied to other regions of the world. St Helena’s invertebrate fauna has 891 genera and 1133 species. The fauna has a high level of endemism with 450 species (equal to 96% of all native species) but the total species richness now comprises many introduced species (664) with 93 species in 24 orders that are entirely novel to St Helena. The elevation ranges of native species appear to be narrow, most being confined to higher elevations above 500 m. St Helena has had a large number of probable extinction events; 30 insects, and 19 molluscs, and the threat of further extinctions remains high. The cumulative invertebrate extinctions on St Helena exceed the global background extinction rate on an island barely covering 122 km2. We present actions and timelines to focus invertebrate conservation on St Helena; taxonomy, ecology, long term monitoring and invasive species control are priority areas to reduce extinction risk.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank The Darwin Initiative for funding the data collation for this paper under the project Laying the foundations for invertebrate conservation on St Helena. We would also like to thank Alice Farr, Liza White and the people of St Helena.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Bush Estate, Penicuik, Midlothian, EH26 0QB, UK

    Alan Gray

  2. Mid Atlantic Island Invertebrate Specialist Group, c/o IUCN, The David Attenborough Building, Pembroke Street, Cambridge, CB2 3QZ, UK

    Vicky Wilkins

  3. Pink Grove, Levelwood, STHL IZZ, St Helena Island

    David Pryce

  4. St Helena National Trust, Broadway House, Jamestown, STHL 1ZZ, St Helena Island

    Liza Fowler, Michael Jervois & Amy-Jayne Dutton

  5. The Old Black Bull, Carthorpe, Bedale, North Yorkshire, DL8 2LD, UK

    Roger S. Key

  6. Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK

    Howard Mendel

  7. Department of Biogeography, Trier University, 54286, Trier, Germany

    Axel Hochkirch

  8. Mount Pleasant House, Sandy Bay, STHL IZZ, St Helena Island

    Rebecca Cairns-Wicks

  9. Environmental Management Division, St Helena Government, Jamestown, STHL IZZ, St Helena Island

    Lourens Malan

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  1. Alan Gray
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  2. Vicky Wilkins
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Correspondence to Alan Gray.

Additional information

Communicated by David Hawksworth.

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Gray, A., Wilkins, V., Pryce, D. et al. The status of the invertebrate fauna on the South Atlantic island of St Helena: problems, analysis, and recommendations. Biodivers Conserv 28, 275–296 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-018-1653-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-018-1653-4

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