Amsterdam and Saint-Paul Islands temperate grasslands

Although the islands are remote and therefore safe from most human activity and pollution, several introduced species of flora and fauna have damaged the environment.

Amsterdam Island cattle, in particular, grazed on young and regenerating plants and trampled on bird eggs. Five cattle had been brought to Amsterdam in January 1871. They were abandoned later that year and subsequently increased to a wild population of 2,000. As part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands the islands are home to a research base which is working to preserve the original plant and animal life. Initially, they restricted the cattle to the northern half of Amsterdam. When the discovery was made in 2007 that the native flora and fauna had returned to the areas no longer grazed by the cattle, a plan to cull the remaining cattle on the island was launched in 2008. By 2010, the eradication program was complete, and no cattle remain on the island.^{[citation needed]} The cattle population itself had become of scientific interest as it was a rare example of a completely feral herd of cattle.

Humans have caused other damage to the islands' ecosystems, as much of Amsterdam's woodland was cleared in the 18th and 19th centuries by whalers, sealers, and visitors from passing ships and is struggling to recover. Seal populations have recovered from commercial seal hunting and are no longer threatened.

• Media related to Amsterdam-Saint Paul Islands Temperate Grasslands Ecoregion at Wikimedia Commons
• "Amsterdam and Saint-Paul Islands temperate grasslands". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.