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Response of ecosystems to realistic extinction sequences
Author(s) -
Ebenman Bo
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of animal ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.134
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1365-2656
pISSN - 0021-8790
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2656.2011.01805.x
Subject(s) - iucn red list , ecology , extinction (optical mineralogy) , apex predator , ecosystem , trophic level , food web , geography , predation , megafauna , animal ecology , conservation biology , biology , paleontology , archaeology , pleistocene
[ Cheetah ( Acinonyx jubatus ) – one of the IUCN Red‐Listed species in the Serengeti food web. Photograph by Fredrik Larsson. ] de Visser, S., Freymann, B. & Olff, H. (2011) The Serengeti food web: empirical quantification and analysis of topological changes under increasing human impact. Journal of Animal Ecology 80 , 465–475. Recent research suggests that effects of species loss on the structure and functioning of ecosystems will critically depend on the order with which species go extinct. However, there are few studies of the response of natural ecosystems to realistic extinction sequences. Using an extinction scenario based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, de Visser et al. sequentially deleted species from a topological model of the Serengeti food web. Under this scenario, large‐bodied species like top predators and mega‐herbivores go extinct first. The resulting changes in the trophic structure of the food web might affect the robustness of the ecosystem to future disturbances.