Tracking rodents on Norfolk Island

Another of Matt’s most recent large collaborative projects has been working with Parks Australia staff from the Norfolk Island National Park to identify the challenges they’re facing with managing introduced rodents and what information would help them improve the control of those rodent species.

Norfolk Island is home to a unique array of birds, including the endangered Norfolk Island Green Parrot, and introducing rodents has historically led to the extinction of multiple bird species.

The research has involved setting up hundreds of traps to capture live rodents. Once captured, the team applies fluorescent yellow, non-toxic powder to their backs before releasing them. The powder then rubs onto plants as they move around. At night, they then use UV torches to illuminate the glowing trails, helping them study the rodents' fine-scale movements.

The work is being funded by the National Environmental Science Program’s Resilient Landscapes Hub. Matt shares they now have an excellent project investigating how the movement patterns of rodents affect their re-colonisation rate after control activities and how this has flow-on effects on other species.

The co-design process ensures that their results will be used by their co-design partners.