![]() ![]() This diagram shows how the removal of an apex predator, like the wolf, has negative consequences down the food chain leading to an over-population of browsers like elk, who deplete primary sources of food like plants, shrubs and grasses. This can lead to a secondary loss of apex predators from the top of the environment due to illness and mortality that can result from toxic contamination, which is often rooted in human activities. Bioaccumulation – that is, the accumulation of chemicals up a food chain – of heavy metals, harmful pollutants, and microplastics within our oceans is amplified within top predators, like orcas. Apex predators are often targeted for unnecessary culls, relocations, and removals without consideration of the impacts this has for the lower end of the food chain. Many people still fear apex predators, which are the highest carnivorous species in a food chain such as lions, sharks, orcas, or wolves. ![]() It was not until recently that public opinion on orcas began to change from one of a negative monstrous creatures to one of intelligent and social animals. Large predators in both marine and terrestrial environments has often been one of fear, misunderstanding, and misinformation. 3767-3774., doi:10.1242/jeb.Large predators often get a bad rap in terms of public outlook and opinion. " Digestive Physiology of the Burmese Python: Broad Regulation of Integrated Performance." Journal of Experimental Biology, vol. " Marsh Rabbit Mortalities tie Pythons to the Precipitous Decline of Mammals in the Everglades." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, vol. " Human Persecution of the Harpy Eagle: A Widespread Threat?" The Raptor Research Foundation, vol 55, no.1, 2020, pp. " Retaliatory Killing and Human Perceptions of Madagascar’s Largest Carnivore and Livestock Predator, the Fosa ( Cryptoprocta ferox)." PLOS ONE, vol. " Leopard Seal." New Zealand Government Department of Conservation. " Tasmanian Devil ( Sarcophilus harrisii) Extinction on the Australian Mainland in the Mid-Holocene: Multicausality and ENSO Intensification." Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology, vol. " How Did the Dingo Get to Australia?" AAAS, 2016.īrown, Oliver J. " Food Habits of Grizzly Bears and Black Bears in the Yellowstone Ecoystem." National Park Service.ĭayton, Leigh. " A Central Role for Venom in Predation by Varanus komodoensis (Komodo Dragon) and the Extinct Giant Varanus (Megalania) priscus." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. " Polar Bears Struggle as Sea Ice Declines." NASA Earth Observatory.įry, B. “ Genetic Relatedness Reveals Total Population Size of White Sharks in Eastern Australia and New Zealand.” Scientific Reports, vol. " Killer Whales Redistribute White Shark Foraging Pressure on Seals." Scientific Reports, vol. Proceedings Of The Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, vol 284, no. " Fear Of The Human ‘Super Predator’ Reduces Feeding Time In Large Carnivores". American Journal Of Physical Anthropology, vol 175, no. " The Evolution Of The Human Trophic Level During The Pleistocene". " Saving Large Carnivores, but Losing the Apex Predator?" Biological Conservation, vol.
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