Tag Archives: trophic cascade

Biotic simplification and ecological reorganization

From a powerful review paper in Science on the Trophic Downgrading of Planet Earth (DOI: 10.1126/science.1205106) James A. Estes and many other ecological stars documents the strong role of apex consumers (i.e. big herbivores like elephants) and top predators (e.g. … Continue reading

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Elimination of cats drives trophic cascade

A new paper in the Journal of Applied Ecology (Bergstrom et al (2009). Indirect effects of invasive species removal devastate World Heritage Island, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2664.2008.01601.x) describes how, on Macquarie Island, an important breeding location for several species of penguin, the … Continue reading

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