New research has identified the extent to which human colonisation and hunting contributed to the extinction of New Zealand’s giant flightless birds, the moa.
Published in Science of the Total Environment, the research team used fossils and detailed computer modelling to reconstruct how six species of moa disappeared and whether their extinctions were avoidable.
Lead researcher Dr Sean Tomlinson, from Curtin’s School of Molecular and Life Sciences, who completed this research while at the University of Adelaide, said the research shows that extinctions of moawere caused by frequent harvesting of birds and their eggs by people.
“Arrival of people in New Zealand more than 600 years ago caused one of the largest and most rapid losses of native species across the Pacific. The iconicmoa were giant, flightless birds that disappeared within 100 to 300 years after human arrival,” Dr Tomlinson said.
“Using information from fossils and high-performance computing, we show that these extinctions were likely to have been an unavoidable consequence of human colonisation of New Zealand.
“Our modelling suggests that the only way moa could have co-existed with humans is if large “no-take” harvest zones had covered more than 50 per cent of New Zealand’s land area. This would have been extremely difficult to implement given the social structures of Polynesian colonists, and their reliance on wild food sources, particularly in southern New Zealand.”
Co-author Associate Professor Damien Fordham, from the University of Adelaide’s Environment Institute, said that although it’s too late for moa, these insights provide valuable lessons to conserve and protect today’s endangered large bodied species.
“Our findings suggest that today’s large, flightless birds, such as Kiwi and Cassowary, probably require much bigger conservation areas that include pristine habitats that are least impacted by humanity,” Dr Fordham said.
“This new research shows that extinct species can offer crucial insights to help guide conservation efforts for New Zealand’s remaining flightless birds.”
The paper titled, “Was extinction of New Zealand’s avian megafauna an unavoidable consequence of human arrival?” can be found online here.
It was co-authored by researchers from the University of Adelaide, State University of New York, Australian Թվ University, University of Auckland, and Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research.
