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Haldre Rogers, an assistant professor at Iowa State University, and Elizabeth Wandrag, a postdoctoral fellow of ecology at the University of Canberra, have been studying how tree seedlings

grow on Guam compared to nearby islands where the snake is absent. Their research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows how the other islands had double the

number of seedlings growing in tree gap areas compared to Guam. Writing in leading academic journal, The Conversation, the scientists explain: “The loss of native bird species has triggered

some unexpected changes in Guam’s forests.  “Both the establishment of new trees and the diversity of those trees is falling.  “These changes show how an invasive predator can indirectly yet

significantly alter an entire ecosystem.” Birds are vital for trees in the tropics, where up to 90 per cent of trees rely on animals to eat their fruit and then defecate the seeds in fresh

areas.  On Guam, the seeds are plunging straight to the ground where they have less chance to germinate. The scientists go on to warn: “Overall, for the roughly 70 per cent of tree species

on Guam that rely on birds to spread their seeds, research suggests that the bird deaths caused by the brown tree snake have reduced the establishment of new tree seedlings by 61-92 per

cent, depending on the species.  “These numbers suggest that many tree species in Guam are under serious threat, which, in turn, threatens the species diversity of the island’s forests.” As

the military and diplomatic fall out from Pyongyang’s latest H-bomb detonation causes both seismic and diplomatic fall out through corridors of power around the globe, Guam with its hugely

significant role for the US presence in the Far East has already suffered a natural calamity. As the authors conclude: “Invasive predators are a reality for many ecosystems, particularly on

islands, and the situation on Guam is particularly extreme.  “Perhaps nowhere else in the world has experienced such dramatic losses of native fauna as a result of invasion.  “While these

direct impacts of invasion are astounding, the indirect impacts cascading through the ecosystem are just starting to unfold, and may prove to be similarly catastrophic.”