roberth
07-16-2018, 07:07
Maggie's Farm link - http://maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com/archives/31941-Excellent-summary-of-modern-ecological-thinking.html
to
https://nautil.us/issue/62/systems/reinventing-staten-island-rp
The article mentions "keystone species" too, like Piaster starfish, wolves and sea otters.
A series of experiments backed up the hypothesis. In 1963, a young ecologist named Robert Paine tossed Pisaster starfish out of their cozy tide-pools to see how their absence might change the local ecology. The Pisaster starfish were the dominant predator in the tidepools. When Paine removed them, their prey, mostly Mytilus californianus, the California mussel, proliferated unchecked and began to crowd out other species on the block—chitons, limpets, and barnacles. A few months after Paine began tossing starfish, seven of the 15 species originally at home in the tidepool were gone. The Pisasters, merely by hanging around and eating the mussels, had bolstered the diversity of the entire ecosystem. The experiment quickly became one of the most famous in modern ecology. He called these high-impact top predators “keystone species.”
I found it quite enlightening as I greatly enjoy the outdoors and all the plants and animals in it.
to
https://nautil.us/issue/62/systems/reinventing-staten-island-rp
The article mentions "keystone species" too, like Piaster starfish, wolves and sea otters.
A series of experiments backed up the hypothesis. In 1963, a young ecologist named Robert Paine tossed Pisaster starfish out of their cozy tide-pools to see how their absence might change the local ecology. The Pisaster starfish were the dominant predator in the tidepools. When Paine removed them, their prey, mostly Mytilus californianus, the California mussel, proliferated unchecked and began to crowd out other species on the block—chitons, limpets, and barnacles. A few months after Paine began tossing starfish, seven of the 15 species originally at home in the tidepool were gone. The Pisasters, merely by hanging around and eating the mussels, had bolstered the diversity of the entire ecosystem. The experiment quickly became one of the most famous in modern ecology. He called these high-impact top predators “keystone species.”
I found it quite enlightening as I greatly enjoy the outdoors and all the plants and animals in it.