Editing Palmyra Atoll (section)

== Conservation and restoration ==
[[File:Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge (12198145563).jpg|thumb|left|Palmyra]]
In 2011, Fish and Wildlife Service, TNC, and [[Island Conservation]] began an extensive program to eradicate the horde of non-native rats that arrived on Palmyra during World War II. As many as 30,000 rats once roamed the atoll, eating the eggs of native seabirds and destroying the seedlings of one of the largest remaining Pacific stands of ''[[Pisonia grandis]]'' trees. The rats were eliminated in 2012; however, fifty-one animal samples representing 15 species of birds, fish, reptiles, and invertebrates were collected for residue analysis during systematic searches or as nontarget mortalities. [[Brodifacoum]] residues (the toxicant employed during the project) were detected in most (84.3%) of the samples analyzed with unknown long-term and sublethal effects.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.islandconservation.org/palmyra-atoll/|title=Palmyra Atoll Restoration Project|publisher=Island Conservation|access-date=April 30, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.protectpalmyra.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/USDA-Palmyra-Atoll-Monitoring-Final-Report.pdf |title=Palmyra Atoll Rainforest Restoration Project: Monitoring Results for the Application of Broadcast of Brodifacoum 25W: Conservation to Eradicate Rats |work=QA-1875 Final Report |last1=Pitt |first1=W.C. |last2=Berentsen |first2=A.R. |last3=Volker |first3=S.F. |last4=Eisemann |first4=J.D. |date=September 2012 |publisher=USDA, APHIS, W, NWRC |location=Hilo, Hawaii |access-date=August 22, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103154244/http://www.protectpalmyra.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/USDA-Palmyra-Atoll-Monitoring-Final-Report.pdf |archive-date=January 3, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |title=Native species expected to rebound on rat-free Palmyra Atoll |url=http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?cat=16&newsID=125126 |work=Saipan Tribune |date=February 7, 2013 |access-date=August 22, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511004806/http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?cat=16&newsID=125126 |archive-date=May 11, 2013 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> One side effect was the demise of the island's population of [[Aedes albopictus|Asian tiger mosquitoes]]. This was claimed to be the first time killing off one unwanted species, which resulted in removing a second. The other mosquito species on the island, ''[[Culex quinquefasciatus]],'' prefers to feed on birds and was not affected by the elimination of rats.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.islandconservation.org/disappearing-mosquitoes-clues-ecology/ |title=Disappearing Mosquitoes Leave Clues About Basic Ecology|publisher=Island Conservation|date=March 1, 2018|access-date=May 1, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.civilbeat.org/2018/03/when-rats-were-wiped-out-on-this-island-so-were-the-mosquitoes/|title=When Rats Were Wiped Out On This Island, So Were The Mosquitoes|last=TenBruggencate|first=Jan|date=March 14, 2018|work=Honolulu Civil Beat|access-date=April 13, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref>
[[File:UAS Water Control (PA280869).jpg|thumb|USGS scientists collect data on the lagoon and wildlife]]
[[File:Corl0610 (27689215603).jpg|thumb|NOAA diver swimming Palmyra reefs]]
Post-rat-eradication monitoring documented a notable [[recruitment (biology)|recruitment]] event for ''Pisonia grandis'', a dominant tree species that is important throughout the Pacific region.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.islandconservation.org/study-shows-5000-increase-native-trees-rat-free-palmyra-atoll/ |title=Study Shows 5000% Increase in Native Trees on Rat-free Palmyra Atoll|publisher=Island Conservation|date=July 17, 2018|access-date=May 1, 2020}}</ref> However, by five years post-eradication, a 13-fold increase in recruitment of the range-expanding coconut palm ''[[Cocos nucifera]]'' was found.<ref name="BossoWolf2018">{{cite journal|last1=Bosso|first1=Luciano|last2=Wolf|first2=Coral A.|last3=Young|first3=Hillary S.|last4=Zilliacus|first4=Kelly M.|last5=Wegmann|first5=Alexander S.|last6=McKown|first6=Matthew|last7=Holmes|first7=Nick D.|last8=Tershy|first8=Bernie R.|last9=Dirzo|first9=Rodolfo|last10=Kropidlowski|first10=Stefan|last11=Croll|first11=Donald A.|url=https://www.islandconservation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Invasive-rat-eradication-strongly-impacts-plant-recruitment-on-a-tropical-atoll.pdf|title=Invasive rat eradication strongly impacts plant recruitment on a tropical atoll|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=13|issue=7|year=2018|pages=e0200743|issn=1932-6203|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0200743|pmid=30016347|pmc=6049951|bibcode=2018PLoSO..1300743W|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Beginning in 2019, TNC worked in partnership with [[Island Conservation]] and the Fish and Wildlife Service to restore the native rainforest at Palmyra Atoll by removing dominant ''C. nucifera'' coconut palms, which the conservancy says are the result of former [[copra]] plantations and military activity. Other trees provide habitat for 11 seabird species, and the conservancy wrote that their re-establishment across the atoll would encourage coral growth and might lessen the local effects of a rise in sea-level. As of December 2019, half a million coconut sprouts had been removed, and tracking has begun of the ecosystem's response.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tnc-hawaii-plan.squarespace.com/palmyra-resilience|title=Palmyra Resilience|date=December 2019|publisher=The Nature Conservancy|access-date=April 30, 2020|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728054218/https://tnc-hawaii-plan.squarespace.com/palmyra-resilience|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Palmyra Atoll's location in the Pacific Ocean, where the southern and northern currents meet, litters its beaches with trash and debris. Plastic mooring [[buoy]]s and plastic bottles are plentiful.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/on-assignment/assignment-paradise-lost-found-n572216 |title=On Assignment: The Last Best Place On Earth |first=Harry |last=Smith |date=May 12, 2016 |format=Video |work=Dateline NBC |publisher=NBC News |access-date=2018-06-29 }}</ref>

The atoll is dominated by the [[coconut crab]], the largest species of terrestrial invertebrate.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Matthew |date=2022-08-08 |title=Meet the World's Largest Land Crab |url=https://blog.nature.org/science/2022/08/08/meet-the-worlds-largest-land-crab/ |access-date=2023-01-04 |website=Cool Green Science |language=en-US}}</ref>

To avoid introducing any new invasive species, visitors to the atoll freeze and disinfect their belongings.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-02-24 |title=Palmyra Atoll: The tiny US island at the heart of climate research |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/palmyra-atoll-climate-change-hawaii-b1804474.html |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=The Independent |language=en|author-first1=Josh|author-last1=Marcus}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Toby Kiers kijkt het liefst omlaag, want daar bevindt zich het schimmelrijk |url=https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2023/02/03/toby-kiers-kijkt-het-liefst-omlaag-want-daar-bevindt-zich-het-schimmelrijk-2-a4155913 |access-date=2023-02-12 |website=NRC |date=February 3, 2023 |language=nl |last1=Venhuizen |first1=Gemma }}</ref>

In September 2024, the [[Guam kingfisher|Guam Kingfisher]] was introduced to Palmyra.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-23 |title=Sihek Released on Palmyra Atoll {{!}} U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |url=https://www.fws.gov/story/2024-09/sihek-released-palmyra-atoll |access-date=2024-12-30 |website=www.fws.gov |language=en}}</ref>