ALBATROSS Sample Clauses

ALBATROSS. As with many islands that are home to seabird populations, Amsterdam Island has experienced a series of human-induced perturbations since it was discovered (introduction of animal and plant species, fires). As elsewhere, island restoration is a challenge: the state of the original ecosystem is difficult to define and restoration aims may be vague and mobile, making it difficult to define exactly what to restore (Simberloff 1990). In the specific case of Amsterdam, knowledge on the original state of the island is virtually non-existent: this complicates the design of a plan aiming to a return to a „natural‟ situation. Ancient descriptions of the island by mariners show the island had a „forest belt‟ of Phylica trees, limited today to a small wood. We also know that sealers nearly extirpated the fur seals, which were formerly extremely abundant. Finally, subfossil bones on the island reveal the former presence of numerous species that seem extinct today (flightless duck, petrels), and also of the endemic Amsterdam albatross. However, there is no information to estimate the size of this latter population before first human landings and the species was described only in the middle of the 20th century. This population had been completely overlooked until then, probably due to the location of its nesting area on a very isolated part of the island. Studies on the terrestrial habitats and soil of the island revealed that low-altitude areas have experienced considerable modification (grazing by cattle, fires), with dramatic loss of soil substrates, hence limiting restoration of the „original‟ vegetation (and excludes, on the worst affected areas, full restoration). The current nesting area of Amsterdam albatrosses has only suffered a little damage, but the indigenous vegetation of mosses and ferns is highly vulnerable to trampling and to decreases in local rainfall.