Trophic cascades occur when a change in number
of top predators affects the density/behaviour of prey, thus shaping the
survival of the next trophic level.
I hope that my blogs have been informative
and given a better understanding of the connectivity between, well, everything.
It just shows how coevolution has such an important role on what we see today. And
as everything is connected, we cannot dismiss individual species – for their
size, lack of beauty or even because we are afraid of them, such as many top
predators. Indeed, our fear is threatening many shark species, and our greed
the wolves. We must remember that our actions are not only affecting the
abundance of these populations, but every biotic and abiotic factor linked to
them as well.
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| Howling for Justice (2014) |
Keystone species like Otters and ecosystem
engineers like the ingenious beaver and humans also hold the balance of an ecosystem
in their own abundance.
I still get excited about the extent of the
impact one organism can have on entire ecosystem – they can change rivers and
even influence the carbon cycle.
There are many aspects of trophic cascades
that are still yet to be fully understood, but it is a popular topic in the
literature. As an aspiring conservationist, I was really interested in how we
can use current knowledge of trophic cascades to predict the outcomes of
certain actions, and thus develop ways to prevent extinctions, as well as ‘rewilding’
already altered ecosystems.
I hope you enjoyed this blog as much as I
have.
Wow, beautifully written : )
ReplyDeleteThanks Lola, for enlightening us all on the interactions that occur between species. I’ve enjoyed your blogs and hope that they have inspired you to develop some conservation ideas of your own!
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