Fledgling Theories Podcast

2/5 #BOUsci24 #SESH5 The islands in the far north end of the chain are sparsely inhabited and visited compared to the southern islands. See human population numbers on the map below. We've used them as refugia. But they're also VERY expensive and challenging to access.

3/5 #BOUsci24 #SESH5 We've moved five species to three islands so far. But how are those populations doing? We're trying to find out using automated recording units. Here's a peek at results for Micronesian Rufous Fantail: darker is more detections per minute, lighter is fewer.

5/5 #BOUsci24 #SESH5 We're hopeful that with increased monitoring effort using ARUs, we can grapple with some solutions to our challenges. But transportation logistics to these islands, cooperation with residents, and expedition safety remain ongoing challenges to manage.

1/5 #BOUsci24 #SESH5 The Brown Tree Snake has caused the extinction or extirpation of most of the forest birds on Guam. As Guam's closest neighbors, the Northern Mariana Islands have been working hard to prevent this fate in the rest of the archipelago, using translocation.

4/5 #BOUsci24 #SESH5 Another challenge we're grappling with is species area relationship. After translocating new species, some of these islands may now have more species of forest birds than they can hold. But we don't know what the timeline for reversion to the mean will be.

Hello friends, Just a quick note to say we'll be back on 6 February with a brand new episode for you. Hope your new year has been filled with delight so far!