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A single introduction of wild rabbits caused the biological invasion of Australia. The phrase is both the title of the scientific article and the conclusion of the work carried out by the international team that includes researchers from the Center for Research in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (CIBIO-InBIO), in Porto.
It was thus clear, after 70 years, the reason that led the rabbits to become a plague about a century after they were introduced to the island, according to the article published this Monday in the scientific journal PNAS.
“The colonization of Australia by the European rabbit is one of the most famous biological invasions in history,” describes the Portuguese team in a statement from the institution. The species had been brought to that continent for the first time in 1788, but it was not until the second half of the 19th century that the European rabbit “became a plague”.
The expansion, which covered an area 13 times larger than the Iberian Peninsula, irreversibly changed the Australian landscape and left a trail of destruction in ecosystems and agricultural properties.
The international investigation, led by researchers from CIBIO-InBIO and the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford, combined genetic information with historical documents, having shown that the invasion was “triggered by the action of a single person: Thomas Austin”, an emigrant Briton who, in 1859, imported 24 rabbits from England.
“The story was famous, but the evidence for Thomas Austin’s role in the invasion was vague because there are records of other introductions. Nevertheless, the genetic profile of the Australian rabbits made it possible to trace the origin of the invasion precisely to the property where Austin lived, in southwestern Australia.“, says, quoted in the statement, Joel Alves, first author of the article and CIBIO-InBIO researcher.
In the study, the researchers were also able to trace the genetic lineage of the rabbits back to the town where Austin was born in England and from where the rabbits were captured and then transported to Australia. An analysis of the genetic makeup of the rabbits reveals that they had a “largely wild origin,” a trait the authors argue Austin “picked on purpose” as he intended to use them for hunting.
During domestication, rabbits were selected for various traits, such as different coloration and tameness. This made them less prepared to survive in the Australian wild”, adds Miguel Carneiro, co-author of the study and also a researcher at the University of Porto, referring to other introductions with less capacity to invade the island.
In addition to genes, there were other factors that contributed to the success of the Austin rabbits, namely the fact that “they are better adapted”, but mainly “the human impact”, such as the “removal of predators and the expansion of lands”. agricultural”. ”.
“This study shows the exceptional nature of rabbits as a biological model at all levels, but, above all, it is an unequivocal demonstration of the importance of science to inform and develop conservation policies”, says Nuno Ferrand, one of the authors of the study. study and current director of CIBIO-InBIO.
Updated at 16:00 August 23
Source: Observadora
