POISON dropped by helicopter on the ant colonies rampaging round Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean has cleared the way for the land crab population to recover. The crabs are a vital part of the island’s unique ecosystem.
“It’s an amazing feat,” says Mick Clout of the University of Auckland in New Zealand, who is chair of the Invasive Species Specialist Group of the World Conservation Union. “Invasive invertebrates can be an intractable problem because they breed so quickly.”
Christmas Island is dominated by 45 million red land crabs, which keep the rainforest floor clear of leaf litter. They help…
