Above‐ and below‐ground impacts of introduced predators in seabird‐dominated island ecosystems

Fukami, Tadashi; Wardle, David A.; Bellingham, Peter J.; Mulder, Christa P. H.; Towns, David R.; Yeates, G. W.; Bonner, Karen I.; Durrett, Melody S.; Grant-Hoffman, Madeline N.; Williamson, William Crawford

doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2006.00983.x

Cited by 316 publications

(383 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…However, over long time scales, these nutrients may become accessible to terrestrial fauna as sea levels drop during the ice ages and sea cliffs erode. This flux of nutrients has almost certainly decreased through time as seabird populations have decreased [27% of seabirds are classified as threatened (22)] or gone extinct (e.g., the great auk, Pinguinus impennis) often due to, for instance, invasive mammal predators decimating seabird colonies (36). In the past, scavenging birds, such as condors, may also have acted as vectors of nutrients from the sea to the land.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global nutrient transport in a world of giants

Doughty

Roman

Faurby

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

348

333

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The past was a world of giants, with abundant whales in the sea and large animals roaming the land. However, that world came to an end following massive late-Quaternary megafauna extinctions on land and widespread population reductions in great whale populations over the past few centuries. These losses are likely to have had important consequences for broad-scale nutrient cycling, because recent literature suggests that large animals disproportionately drive nutrient movement. We estimate that the capacity of animals to move nutrients away from concentration patches has decreased to about 8% of the preextinction value on land and about 5% of historic values in oceans. For phosphorus (P), a key nutrient, upward movement in the ocean by marine mammals is about 23% of its former capacity (previously about 340 million kg of P per year). Movements by seabirds and anadromous fish provide important transfer of nutrients from the sea to land, totalling ∼150 million kg of P per year globally in the past, a transfer that has declined to less than 4% of this value as a result of the decimation of seabird colonies and anadromous fish populations. We propose that in the past, marine mammals, seabirds, anadromous fish, and terrestrial animals likely formed an interlinked system recycling nutrients from the ocean depths to the continental interiors, with marine mammals moving nutrients from the deep sea to surface waters, seabirds and anadromous fish moving nutrients from the ocean to land, and large animals moving nutrients away from hotspots into the continental interior. There were giants in the world in those days.Genesis 6:4, King James version T he past was a world of giants, with abundant whales in the oceans and terrestrial ecosystems teeming with large animals. However, most ecosystems lost their large animals, with around 150 mammal megafaunal (here, defined as ≥44 kg of body mass) species going extinct in the late Pleistocene and early Holocene (1, 2). These extinctions and range declines continued up through historical times and, in many cases, into the present (3). No global extinctions are known for any marine whales, but whale densities might have declined between 66% and 99% (4-6). Some of the largest species have experienced severe declines; for example, in the Southern Hemisphere, blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) have been reduced to 1% of their historical numbers as a result of commercial whaling (4). Much effort has been devoted to determining the cause of the extinctions and declines, with less effort focusing on the ecological impacts of the extinctions. Here, we focus on the ecological impacts, with a specific focus on how nutrient dynamics may have changed on land following the lateQuaternary megafauna extinctions, and in the sea and air following historical hunting pressures.Most biogeochemists studying nutrient cycling focus on in situ production, such as weathering or biological nitrogen (N) fixation, largely ignoring lateral fluxes by animals because they are considered of secondary importance (...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global nutrient transport in a world of giants

Doughty

Roman

Faurby

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

348

333

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“…For example, rats introduced onto small Pacific islands decimated seabird populations, resulting in decreased sea-to-land transport of nutrients (guano) and altered decomposition and nutrient cycling by soil microbes (112). In another study, European earthworm species introduced to North American hardwood forests led to significant changes in soil microbial biomass and the metabolic quotient of the soil ecosystem (113).…”

Section: Nested Ecosystemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Animals in a bacterial world, a new imperative for the life sciences

McFall‐Ngai

Hadfield

Bosch

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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2,256

1,916

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In the last two decades, the widespread application of genetic and genomic approaches has revealed a bacterial world astonishing in its ubiquity and diversity. This review examines how a growing knowledge of the vast range of animal–bacterial interactions, whether in shared ecosystems or intimate symbioses, is fundamentally altering our understanding of animal biology. Specifically, we highlight recent technological and intellectual advances that have changed our thinking about five questions: how have bacteria facilitated the origin and evolution of animals; how do animals and bacteria affect each other’s genomes; how does normal animal development depend on bacterial partners; how is homeostasis maintained between animals and their symbionts; and how can ecological approaches deepen our understanding of the multiple levels of animal–bacterial interaction. As answers to these fundamental questions emerge, all biologists will be challenged to broaden their appreciation of these interactions and to include investigations of the relationships between and among bacteria and their animal partners as we seek a better understanding of the natural world

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“…Rats change belowground community, nutrient cycling, and decomposition [88] Foxes change soil fertility and transform grasslands to shrub-and forb-dominated ecosystems [89] Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) Usurping terrestrial insects falling into streams, causing native char to shift to foraging for insects feeding on bottom algae, increasing algal biomass, decreasing insect emergence and spider populations [90] Nile perch (Lates niloticus) Driving over 150 native fish species to extinction, including many phytoplanktivores and detritivores, favoring increased algal blooms and submersed vegetation, and massively increased prawn populations; perch fisheries attracted more humans, further exacerbating eutrophication…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of biological invasions: what's what and the way forward

Simberloff

Martin

Genovesi

et al. 2013

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

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2,556

1,765

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International audienceStudy of the impacts of biological invasions, a pervasive component of global change, has generated remarkable understanding of the mechanisms and consequences of the spread of introduced populations. The growing field of invasion science, poised at a crossroads where ecology, social sciences, resource management, and public perception meet, is increasingly exposed to critical scrutiny from several perspectives. Although the rate of biological invasions, elucidation of their consequences, and knowledge about mitigation are growing rapidly, the very need for invasion science is disputed. Here, we highlight recent progress in understanding invasion impacts and management, and discuss the challenges that the discipline faces in its science and interactions with society

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Above‐ and below‐ground impacts of introduced predators in seabird‐dominated island ecosystems

Cited by 316 publications

References 39 publications

Global nutrient transport in a world of giants

Global nutrient transport in a world of giants

Animals in a bacterial world, a new imperative for the life sciences

Impacts of biological invasions: what's what and the way forward

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