The much maligned rat is not a creature many would associate with coral reefs. But scientists studying reefs on tropical islands say the animals directly threaten the survival of these ecosystems. From a report: A team working on the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean found that invasive rats on the islands are a “big problem” for coral reefs. Rats decimate seabird populations, in turn decimating the volume of bird droppings — a natural coral fertiliser. The findings are published in Nature. Scientists now advocate eradicating rats from all of the islands to protect these delicate marine habitats.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot – Killing Rats Could Save Coral Reefs