8/6/2019 Conservation Proposal
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Justification
The Brown Tree Snake (BTS) is an invasive species that has had a
large impact on the ecosystem of Guam. After
World War II, the species was accidently transported to Guam,
most likely as a cargo stowaway, and since then the
Melanesian snake has been a hassle for the fauna and humans
living on Guam. Due to no natural predators and an
abundance of prey, the BTS population has exploded, and they are
the cause of multiple electrical outages,
envenoming of children, and most particularly the extinction of
native birds and lizards.
Supporting Data
As seen in Appendix A, the graph shows population densities of
several bird species native in Guam per 100km. It is
easy to note that almost all graphs are declining; the
population of these species are decreasing throughout theyears. All
of these species have been affected by the BTS. The Guam Rail is a
particularly hard hit species that has
been extinct naturally ever since the 1980s, but they, along
with Micronesian Kingfishers, are currently being bred in
captivity to be released into the wild. Of interesting note are
the Yellow Bitterns and the Eurasian Tree Sparrows,
whose population have not completely declined. These two
speciesmove in between different habitats, the Bitterns
in swampy areas and grasslands, while the Sparrows have survived
well in urban areas. These kinds of habitats are
limited in BTS numbers, thus allowing for the populations to
rise due to adaptation. Appendix B is a complete species
summary table of all species affected by the BTS.
Not only do the snakes cause natural disturbances, but they cost
the Guam governmentan estimated millions of
dollars each year. Brown Tree Snakes often climb on top of
manmade structures, and up power poles supporting
distribution wires and transmission lines. Contact with these
conductors can cause faults and short circuits. In the
year 1982 alone, snakes caused 84 electrical faults, accounting
for 252 hours of power outages on the island.Appendix C shows the
frequency of electrical outages due to snakes throughout the years
of 1978-1997. By the year
1996, there were roughly 215 outages or approximately one outage
every other day.
As of March 2009, there are 26,000 snakes per square mile. Guam
is 212 square miles large. Thats 5,512,000 snakes
on the island, and compared to the 177,718 humans living on
Guam, thats a ratio ofapproximately 31 snakes to 1
person. It is clear that the BTS situation on Guam is a dire
one, with impacts on the islands ecology and biosphere.
Humans are also affected in the damages of electric appliances
and also fear of snakes attacking children.This
conservation project aims to remedy these issues on Guam.
Methodology
As of this moment, there are no effective large-scale methods of
controlling the BTS population.For urban areas and
transportation lanes: hand, trap and dog-assisted capture are
being used to individually root out snakes, as well asphysical
barrier placement around electrical equipment and openings in
buildings. These barriers, often electric,
have proven somewhat effective in securing snake-free areas but
do little to remove already populated zones.
Appendix D is a summary table of BTS population control
techniques, detailing which ones are in use and which ones
require more research and development (R&D). As evident in
the table, our two proposed solutions (chemical and
biological control) require R&D which, in other words, is
funds.
Biological controls and bait-attractants have the potential to
be cost-efficient and a long-term solution over a wide
scale, but need more research before they can be implemented.
Donald Nichols, a veterinary pathologist for the
Guam National Zoo, is one of the main contributors to a new
solution that may provide the answer to Guams
problems. While working as a freelancer examining tissue from
deceased animals in other zoos, he realized that
many collections of snakes had suffered from paramyxovirus
outbreaks.When infected with this, snakes exhibit flu-
like symptoms that quickly lead to death. "Wouldnt it be nice,"
he thought to himself, "if there were aparamyxovirus outbreak on
Guam?"
KSV (king snake virus) and EEGV (Elpahe
guttatavirus)arebothpromisingstrainsthatinfectsnakesandlaydormant
forjustlongenoughtobespreadaroundbeforeitkillsitshost.Anotherdevelopmentistheuseofacetaminophen,
a
chemicalpresentinTylenol,whichwhenadministeredtobrowntreesnakeswillalsokillthem.Thedrugisputinto
frozen,deadmicewhicharethenair-droppedandconnectedtospecificdeviceswhichcatchontrees
justsothat
brown treesnakescan reachandeat
them,butotheranimalscannot.Forboth techniques, themainproblem
in
developmentisgettingthemtothesnakeswithoutharmingotherwildlife.Theyareinroughstagesofdevelopment,
andifwereceivethefundingtocontinuetheseprojectswewillbedevisingmethodsofimplementingthemwithout
causingundesiredeffects.Then,theBTSpopulationcouldfinallybedealtwith.
8/6/2019 Conservation Proposal
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Impact
Iftheproposedsolutions,namelybiologicalcontrolsandbait-attractants,succeedindecreasingtheBTSpopulation,
thepeopleandecosystemofGuamwillbehighlybenefited.Theproposed
solutionsdonot include the localsof
Guam as the public has already been educated about BTS and how
to keep them out of their homes etc. The
government of Guam highly encourages the locals to kill BTS upon
sight. Though the project of involving locals
requires expansionandR&D (see tableabove),we recognize
thatother solutions, suchasbiologicalcontrol,are
moreeffective.Therefore,itwouldbemostbeneficialtofundthosesolutions.
As aforementioned, brown tree snakes in Guam are responsible
fornumerous outages.Funding the proposed
solutionswillresultinadecreaseintheBTSpopulation,andhencethenumberofoutagesaswell.Notonlydothese
outagesserveasahugeinterferenceinpeopleslivesonGuam,italsocausesthegovernmenttolosevastamounts
ofmoneyeachyear.IftheBTSpopulationwerecontrolled,thismoneycouldbeusedtobetterinfrastructureorto
improvetheislandshealthcare,whichasaconsequence,wouldimprovethelivesofthoselivinginGuam.
AlongwiththepositiveimpactsonthelocalpopulationofGuam,thewildlifeinGuamwouldalsobenefitifthefunds
arecollectedtoresearchtheaforementionedproposedsolutions.Therailpopulationcouldberevivedandseveral
otherendangeredspecieswouldno
longerbeontheirwaytoextinction.Guamswildlifewouldfinallyhavesome
sortoforder,orratherbalancetoit.
Outcomes
Tomonitor thesolutions thatwerepreviouslymentioned,
therewouldneed tobeanestablishmentofscheduled
checksofwhetherornotthepopulationofbrowntreesnakestobecontrolledtoalevelthatwillallowasustainable
environment for the endangered animals that inhabit in the
forests of Guam. A diverse amount of
population/repopulationcontrolmethodsmustbeestablishedbecausemustbeusedtocontrolthepopulation.The
determinationofwhen thisprojecthasmet itsgoalwillbewhen
thepopulationofendangeredbirdsandnative
Guam species start to increasewhichwouldmean that
theexistenceofBTS inGuam isno longera threat to its
biodiversity.AsetamountofbaitattractantneedstobecontrolledbytheamountofBTSinthearea,sothatthebait
attractantsdonotpollute theenvironmentwith
toxicchemicals.Also,somethingneeds tobedone tomakesure
thatotheranimalsdonotingestthemiceasitwillleadtotheirdeath,andcouldaffecttheentirespeciesnegatively.
The zoologists must ensure that money will not continue to flow
into establishing the population control if the
effortsarenotreturninginpositiveresults,becausethatwouldmeanthatmoneywillcontinuetobespentwithout
anyresult.Thereshouldbeatimelimitofwhenthisprojectneedstobeeasedouttocontroltheamountoffunds
thatareputintoit,orelsetoomuchmoneybeingspentonthiseffortcanresultinextranationalcostandincreasedtaxes.
WehopethatwewillreceivefundsforthisprojectandfinallytheproblemsinGuamrelatingtoBTScanbesolved.
