Parker

Parker

@ecoconservation.bsky.social

23 followers9 following52 posts

Parker
@ecoconservation.bsky.social

Day 30 of drawing every #bird I’ve ever seen: oriental turtle dove It’s lovely how common these are in Japan when the European turtle dove is so elusive in the UK

Parker
@ecoconservation.bsky.social

Day 29 of drawing every #bird I’ve ever seen: mourning dove Growing up in America, these birds have one of the most beautiful haunting calls of my childhood

Parker
@ecoconservation.bsky.social

Day 27 of drawing every #bird I’ve ever seen: common wood pigeon A bird so fat and plump that when I see one I become a medieval peasant and think to myself that that would be good eating if I shot it with an arrow

Parker
@ecoconservation.bsky.social

Day 19 of drawing every #bird I’ve ever seen: grey partridge I always accidentally surprise these guys when walking in fields and don’t notice them until they fly off

Parker
@ecoconservation.bsky.social

Realizing that just a full list of birds would be pretty boring, I think I’ll highlight a species a week! This week I saw 58 bird species. Species of the week is the Eurasian whimbrel! They only pass by where I live, so I was lucky to see one 🪶

View full thread
Parker
@ecoconservation.bsky.social

These concepts have also become part of the foundation of conservation solutions. Rewilding uses the “3Cs” model: cores, corridors, and carnivores; to restore self-regulating ecosystems. The hope is to get ahead of extinctions by addressing ecosystem function loss (Carver et al. 2021) 11/12

Parker
@ecoconservation.bsky.social

While this paper by no means originated the idea of trophic cascades or the importance of carnivores, it is still a foundational read for understanding the role of apex predators in ecosystems and in rewilding ecology 🦈🐆🦡12/12

View full thread
Parker
@ecoconservation.bsky.social

They claim we failed to predict many ecological surprises because we didn’t account for trophic cascades as a cause. While physical processes are fundamental to understand, they don’t account for all ecosystem change, and we have to recognize the importance of apex predators 9/12

Parker
@ecoconservation.bsky.social

This paper clearly made a strong argument, because now, trophic cascades are recognized as core concept of ecology. It has been cited thousands of times, including by those trying to show the devastating consequences of this mass extinction (Ceballos et al. 2017) 10/12

View full thread
Parker
@ecoconservation.bsky.social

For example, reduced predators can mean higher population density of prey which leads to more interaction with humans and more spread of disease. This happened in sub-Saharan Africa with the baboon population after the loss of lions and leopards. 7/12

Parker
@ecoconservation.bsky.social

When this paper was written, many ecologists still thought large predators didn’t have large effect on those below them. The authors call for a paradigm shift where it should be assumed that they do, and studies should be done to prove otherwise, instead of the other way around 8/12

View full thread
Parker
@ecoconservation.bsky.social

Still, trophic cascades have been observed in all biomes. Strength and type of effects vary because food chains naturally vary in length between ecosystems. Sometimes, predators reduce herbivores which increases plant abundance, but sometimes predators reduce plant abundance. 5/12

Parker
@ecoconservation.bsky.social

As well as effects on other organisms in the food chain, losing apex predators causes indirect effects on the environment, including on wildfires; disease; soil, water, and air quality; and biodiversity. 6/12

View full thread
Parker
@ecoconservation.bsky.social

These impacts can be complex and nonlinear. Ecosystems can have “alternative stable states” where disturbances can push them past tipping points from one state to another. When it’s easier to turn into one state than it is to turn back, its known as “hysteresis” 3/12

Parker
@ecoconservation.bsky.social

Trophic cascades are also difficult to observe because conditions must be disturbed to see interactions that are usually invisible; effects may take years to decades to appear; and effects occur at scales larger than most empirical experiments are being conducted on 4/12

Parker
@ecoconservation.bsky.social

The authors start by explaining that the Earth is in its sixth mass extinction, this one caused by humans. This extinction is characterized by the loss of large animals, especially apex predators. This loss has cascading consequences known as trophic cascades 2/12

You are up to date.