Voyage of Darwin’s Beagle Episode Rating Graph

In Australia the arrival of Europeans profoundly effected the biology of the continent through introduction of non-native species that are reproducing and invading at an unprecedented rate. Australian biologists call it “extinction calamity” since the continent has lost one in ten of its native mammals species in the past 200 years. The effects of climate change is also evident with severe droughts and wild fires. A large fraction of Australian vegetation is serotinous that is adapted to disperse their seeds when triggered by fire. Cane toads are one of the prime example of catastrophic species introduction with unintended consequences. Decades after their intentional release cane toads continue to spread over the continent.

In this last episode of the series the crew of Stad Amsterdam visits Mauritius island before making a final stop in South Africa where the journey of modern Human ancestors began 200 thousand years ago. San culture in South Africa is the most ancestral Human population finding Like many island ecosystems Mauritius has been impacted by introduced species such as macaques. Species evolved on island systems are more prone to extinction. The flightless bird the Dodo is the icon of extinction in islands entirely due to Humans. An ambitious conservation project aims to restore the original biodiversity in an island called Ile aux Aigrettes. Similar conservation programs are employed in islands including the Kaena Point in Hawaii where biologists have fenced an entire peninsula to prevent access of non-native mammals.