Changes in island biota - The Great Barrier Reef: An Environmental History - page 201

Changes in island biota
Introduction
Many of the islands and cays of the Great Barrier Reef have been significantly
modified by human activity since European settlement (Hopley, 1982; Lucas
et al., 1997, p50). As outlined in previous chapters, those impacts include the
removal of guano and rock phosphate (Chapter 10) , and the effects of military
target practice exercises involving the bombing and shelling of islands and
reefs (Chapter 12) . In addition to those impacts, however, there have been
other profound transformations of the biota of islands, which form the subject
of this chapter. Those transformations include the creation of coconut palm
plantations on many islands; the destruction of island vegetation by introduced
goats; the misuse of fire; and the introduction of exotic types of vegetation, such
as Lantana spp. and prickly pear ( Opuntia spp. ). Other significant changes in
island vegetation and animal populations occurred due to the development of
various types of infrastructure on islands, including tourist resorts and airstrips.
Those changes are discussed in turn in this chapter, based on evidence gathered
primarily from the archival files of the QEPA, held at the QSA.
The creation of coconut palm plantations,
1892-1900
Significant transformations of many islands of the Great Barrier Reef occurred as
a result of the introduction of coconut palms, prior to 1900. The establishment
of coconut palm plantations took place, with the support of the Queensland
government, for several reasons: as a source of employment; as a resource for
use by shipwrecked mariners; and to produce copra for export. Consequently,
from 1892 to 1900, more than 46 locations were planted with coconut palms,
and hundreds of thousands of individual plants were established on islands. The
practice of planting coconut palms also occurred in Torres Strait; Reclus (1882,
p364) stated that parts of Murray Island, for instance, were also 'clothed with a
continuous forest of cocoanut [ sic ] palms, trees which all travellers assure us were
not found in Australia before the arrival of the European immigrants'. His account