Ecological research gives an invaluable insight into how sometimes very different species interact with each other. It would also, for the more adventurous zoo, be a fascinating subject to explore - keeping species with ecological partnerships in close association that could potentially show how these species interact. To that end, I have decided to create this thread, where research or other articles about ecology can be shared. I have included some initial articles and pieces of research that may be of interest:
- Research has found that dingoes in New South Wales can affect the shape of sand dunes in the Strzelecki Desert and in turn influences how the wind flows over the landscape. The Dingo Fence has acted as a barrier to dingoes and on the side where they are absent, feral cats and foxes have flourished. In turn, native herbivores such as hopping mice have declined and vegetation cover has increased in their absence. This has stabilised the dunes and created taller dune peaks. On the side of the fence where dingoes remain, the dunes are generally flatter and not as tall.
https://phys.org/news/2018-07-dingoes-sculpt-sand-dunes-australian.html
- The dusky-throated antshrike is among several alarm-calling birds that have been discovered to be a keystone species in the Amazonian rainforest. By alerting other birds to the presence of predators such as hawks and falcons, the antshrikes allow other species to use the middle layer of the rainforest where the risk of predator attack is higher, because of the combination of abundant cover and open space for a raptor to manoeuvre. To test this, eight antshrikes were caught from mixed-species flocks in Peru and kept in an aviary for several days. The results were varied from flocks without antshrikes, with other mixed flock members moving into dense cover and others moving up into the canopy. Whatever the result, the mixed flock system broke down. Birds in control flocks, where the antshrike was released immediately after capture tended to stay out in the open.
https://phys.org/news/2018-05-amazonian-lookout-birds-species-dangerous.html#nRlv
- In Southeast Alaska, brown and black bears are abundant because of salmon, but supplement their diet with berries. Once the seed-filled scats are dropped in the landscape, several species including Northwestern deer mice and Northern red-backed voles visited the scats to collect seeds that the bear has defecated. A single bear scat may contain enough seeds to support the daily energy requirements of 91 deer mice and in some areas bears are potentially capable of indirectly subsidising the energy needs of 45-65% of the local deer mouse populations. In turn, the rodents sometimes scatter-hoard the seeds and allow those seeds that they do not find again to germinate.
https://phys.org/news/2018-07-berry-gorging-disperse-seeds-scat-small.html
- This study from December 2017 catalogues the ecological impacts of reptiles in tropical areas. This includes their role as gene transporters (pollinators, seed dispersers and sessile invertebrates), nutrient transfer (the huge quantities of unhatched reptile eggs left buried on beaches and their role as prey for larger predators), 'trophic actors' (reptiles as predators or scavengers that occur at much higher numbers and biomass than mammalian carnivores) and ecosystem engineers (from grazing, burrow-digging, the creation of waterholes and the construction of rotting vegetation mounds by nesting crocodilians). It also addressed the issue of lack of conservation interest in reptiles against birds or mammals and offers options on how to redress this bias.
The Plight of Reptiles as Ecological Actors in the Tropics
- Research has found that dingoes in New South Wales can affect the shape of sand dunes in the Strzelecki Desert and in turn influences how the wind flows over the landscape. The Dingo Fence has acted as a barrier to dingoes and on the side where they are absent, feral cats and foxes have flourished. In turn, native herbivores such as hopping mice have declined and vegetation cover has increased in their absence. This has stabilised the dunes and created taller dune peaks. On the side of the fence where dingoes remain, the dunes are generally flatter and not as tall.
https://phys.org/news/2018-07-dingoes-sculpt-sand-dunes-australian.html
- The dusky-throated antshrike is among several alarm-calling birds that have been discovered to be a keystone species in the Amazonian rainforest. By alerting other birds to the presence of predators such as hawks and falcons, the antshrikes allow other species to use the middle layer of the rainforest where the risk of predator attack is higher, because of the combination of abundant cover and open space for a raptor to manoeuvre. To test this, eight antshrikes were caught from mixed-species flocks in Peru and kept in an aviary for several days. The results were varied from flocks without antshrikes, with other mixed flock members moving into dense cover and others moving up into the canopy. Whatever the result, the mixed flock system broke down. Birds in control flocks, where the antshrike was released immediately after capture tended to stay out in the open.
https://phys.org/news/2018-05-amazonian-lookout-birds-species-dangerous.html#nRlv
- In Southeast Alaska, brown and black bears are abundant because of salmon, but supplement their diet with berries. Once the seed-filled scats are dropped in the landscape, several species including Northwestern deer mice and Northern red-backed voles visited the scats to collect seeds that the bear has defecated. A single bear scat may contain enough seeds to support the daily energy requirements of 91 deer mice and in some areas bears are potentially capable of indirectly subsidising the energy needs of 45-65% of the local deer mouse populations. In turn, the rodents sometimes scatter-hoard the seeds and allow those seeds that they do not find again to germinate.
https://phys.org/news/2018-07-berry-gorging-disperse-seeds-scat-small.html
- This study from December 2017 catalogues the ecological impacts of reptiles in tropical areas. This includes their role as gene transporters (pollinators, seed dispersers and sessile invertebrates), nutrient transfer (the huge quantities of unhatched reptile eggs left buried on beaches and their role as prey for larger predators), 'trophic actors' (reptiles as predators or scavengers that occur at much higher numbers and biomass than mammalian carnivores) and ecosystem engineers (from grazing, burrow-digging, the creation of waterholes and the construction of rotting vegetation mounds by nesting crocodilians). It also addressed the issue of lack of conservation interest in reptiles against birds or mammals and offers options on how to redress this bias.
The Plight of Reptiles as Ecological Actors in the Tropics
Last edited:
