澳大利亚最近建立的捕食者恢复了因灭绝而简化的食物网的复杂性
Eamonn I F Wooster1, Owen S Middleton2, Arian D Wallach3
1Gulbali Institute, School of Agricultural, Environmental and Veterinary Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Albury, NSW 2640, Australia.
Current biology : CB
|October 10, 2024
概括
澳大利亚引入的捕食者在功能上与灭绝的不同,但它们有助于恢复复杂的食物网. 丁哥的存在是维持这种生态网络复杂性的关键.
科学领域:
- 生态生态学 生态生态学
- 古生物学的古生物学
- 动物学 动物学
背景情况:
- 人类活动历史上通过物种灭绝和引入改变了生态系统.
- 这些变化对生态网络结构和功能的长期影响尚未完全理解.
- 澳大利亚提供了一个独特的案例研究,因为自晚普莱斯托时代以来,哺乳动物的大量灭绝和引入.
研究的目的:
- 为了比较澳大利亚哺乳动物捕食者组合的功能特征组成,跨越三个不同的时间段:晚期普莱斯托纪,全新纪和今天.
- 为了重建和分析与这些捕食者组合相关的食物网结构.
- 了解物种的灭绝和引入如何塑造了澳大利亚生态网络的复杂性和功能.
主要方法:
- 哺乳动物捕食者组合的功能性特征分析 (≥70%的脊椎动物肉类消费;≥1公斤的成年人体重) 来自晚期普世,全新世和当前的澳大利亚生态系统.
- 每个时期的食物网的构建,基于被估计的猎物体质偏好.
- 在不同时间段对食物网网络指标 (总链接,链接密度,细分) 的比较分析.
主要成果:
- 与已灭绝的澳大利亚捕食者相比,引入的捕食者表现出不同的功能特征.
- 引入的捕食者有助于重建类似于代晚期的食物网结构,在大型动物灭绝之前.
- 晚期普莱斯托时代和当前的食物网都表现出类似的复杂性 (顶级捕食者和三个较小的捕食者),但这种相似性取决于丁哥的存在.
结论:
- 尽管存在功能上的差异,但引入的捕食者可以恢复因灭绝而丧失的生态网络复杂性.
- 丁哥的存在对于保持澳大利亚哺乳动物捕食者食物网的复杂性至关重要.
- 生态网络可以具有弹性,新物种可能会重新建立失去的功能和结构.
相关概念视频
Predator-Prey Interactions
16.1K
Predators consume prey for energy. Predators that acquire prey and prey that avoid predation both increase their chances of survival and reproduction (i.e., fitness). Routine predator-prey interactions elicit mutual adaptations that improve predator offenses, such as claws, teeth, and speed, as well as prey defenses, including crypsis, aposematism, and mimicry. Thus, predator-prey interactions resemble an evolutionary arms race.
16.1K
Trophic Efficiency
20.3K
Trophic level transfer efficiency (TLTE) is a measure of the total energy transfer from one trophic level to the next. Due to extensive energy loss as metabolic heat, an average of only 10% of the original energy obtained is passed on to the next level. This pattern of energy loss severely limits the possible number of trophic levels in a food chain.
20.3K
Keystone Species
21.6K
Measures of species biodiversity, such as richness (i.e., the number of species present) and evenness (i.e., their relative abundance), describe an ecological community’s structure. Many factors affect community structure, including abiotic factors (e.g., sunlight and nutrients), disturbances (e.g., fire or flood), species interactions (e.g., predation or competition), and chance events (e.g., foreign species invasion). Certain species—such as keystone species—also play a...
21.6K
Conservation of Declining Populations
9.6K
Conservation of declining population focuses on ways of detecting, diagnosing, and halting a population decline. The approach uses methods to prevent populations from going extinct.
9.6K
Threats to Biodiversity
22.2K
There have been five major extinction events throughout geological history, resulting in the elimination of biodiversity, followed by a rebound of species that adapted to the new conditions. In the current geological epoch, the Holocene, there is a sixth extinction event in progress. This mass extinction has been attributed to human activities and is thus provisionally called the Anthropocene. In 2019 the human population reached 7.7 billion people and is projected to comprise 10 billion by...
22.2K
Ecological Disturbance
17.0K
An ecological disturbance is a temporary disruption in the environment resulting from abiotic, biotic, or anthropogenic factors, causing a pronounced change in an ecosystem. The impact of an ecological disturbance, which can depend on its intensity, frequency, and spatial distribution, plays a significant role in shaping the species diversity within the ecosystem.
17.0K


