Resumen de El conejo Europeo: Efectos de una especie invasora en Canarias
Marta López Darias, Angel Palomares Martínez, Juan Luis Rodríguez Luengo, Aurelio Martín Hidalgo, Félix Manuel Medina, Marcelino J. del Arco Aguilar, Manuel Nogales Hidalgo, Angel B. Fernández López, Víctor Garzón Machado, Julio Leal Pérez, Jonay Jesús Cubas Díaz, Natalia Díaz Luis, Víctor Bello Rodríguez, Ángel García, Ramón Chinea, Manuel Durbán Villalonga, José Luis Martín Esquivel, Manuel M. Marrero, Pedro Luis Pérez de Paz, Juana María González Mancebo
Rabbits are invasive to the Canary Islands, where they were introduced 500 years ago, during the conquest, from mainland Spain. Nowadays, they occupy all islands, almost all islets, and all the habitats of the archipelago.
Rabbit negative impacts are manifested at different ecological levels, from affecting species population, to disrupt native networks of interactions, or to even cause the complete alteration of the structure of the ecosystem. Current ongoing researches in various ecosystems are very concluding:
we are far from knowing how would be the natural looking of the ecosystems of the islands, and today we only see what is left after 500 years of herbivorous pressure.
It is urgent to raise awareness of this serious problem to subsequently implement appropriate conservation measures to control and minimize the effects that rabbits are provoking to the incomparable and unique ecosystems of the Canary Islands.
