Saint Helena Hotspot

Instructions

Saint Helena is an island, from the Atlantic Ocean, that hosted an array of avian + invertebrate biodiversity up until colonization in the 16th century. A combination of habitat destruction, hunting, and invasive species quickly wiped out flightless, insular fauna. This ecosystem was home to two, flightless species of rail, the Saint Helena crake and swamphen. The crake was a small, terrestrial bird that scurried in the dense vegetation. It possessed leg adaptations for walking and vestigial wings for terrestrial life. The swamphen was an agile, large bird that could run and traverse many kinds of terrain. It possessed surprisingly strong claws for climbing and well-developed wings for balance. The other pair of flightless birds, the Saint Helena dove and hoopoe, were land foragers. The dove was initially thought to be a human-caused extinction, regarding a dodo-like bird, but some controversy exists due to the fact that all remains date back to the Pleistocene. However, it is inconclusive whether climate change triggered its downfall or if its habitat stopped preserving the fossils. The hoopoe was likely a ground-dwelling, lightweight insectivore/omnivore that may have preyed on the Saint Helena Earwig, perhaps, the largest earwig to ever live. It probably also consumed some berries or seeds as a supplement. The Saint Helena earwig is the largest earwig species that survived much longer than other endemic species, but ultimately vanished because of habitat conversion for agricullture and infrastructure, invasive species preying on them, as well as the loss of nesting seabirds they depended on for burrows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Wirebird: All of the endemic birds, aside from one species of plover, went extinct since settlement, due to extensive habitat clearing, hunting, and invasive species. Managing invasive species, restoring native flora, and supporting established + migrant populations could help rewild the ecosystems. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ○ Invertebrate: • Saint Helena Earwig ○ Birds: • Saint Helena Hoopoe • Saint Helena Crake • Saint Helena Swamphen • Saint Helena Dove