Predators have considerably more influence than plants over how an ecosystem functions, according to a Yale study published today in Science.
The findings, according to the author, Oswald Schmitz
are a “revolutionary” shift in thinking on the subject. Ecosystem ecologists have long held that plants and their interaction with the soil determine the type and abundance of herbivores and carnivores in an ecosystem. Schmitz’s paper, “Effects of Predator Hunting Mode on Grassland Ecosystem Function,” shows that the opposite is true.
different spiders have different hunting modes, and it’s those modes that cause grasshoppers to behave differently, which then carries down the chains of the community structure of the plants,” said Schmitz. “So it’s a top-down view and, in that sense, it’s revolutionary because it’s a paradigm change in ecosystem ecology. Plants, ecosystem ecologists say, have an indirect effect on carnivores. My research shows that carnivores have an indirect effect on plants.”
clipped from: physorg.com