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Ecological meltdown in predator-free forest fragments.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Terborgh, J; Lopez, L; Nuñez, P; Rao, M; Shahabuddin, G; Orihuela, G; Riveros, M; Ascanio, R; Adler, GH; Lambert, TD; Balbas, L
Published in: Science (New York, N.Y.)
November 2001

The manner in which terrestrial ecosystems are regulated is controversial. The "top-down" school holds that predators limit herbivores and thereby prevent them from overexploiting vegetation. "Bottom-up" proponents stress the role of plant chemical defenses in limiting plant depredation by herbivores. A set of predator-free islands created by a hydroelectric impoundment in Venezuela allows a test of these competing world views. Limited area restricts the fauna of small (0.25 to 0.9 hectare) islands to predators of invertebrates (birds, lizards, anurans, and spiders), seed predators (rodents), and herbivores (howler monkeys, iguanas, and leaf-cutter ants). Predators of vertebrates are absent, and densities of rodents, howler monkeys, iguanas, and leaf-cutter ants are 10 to 100 times greater than on the nearby mainland, suggesting that predators normally limit their populations. The densities of seedlings and saplings of canopy trees are severely reduced on herbivore-affected islands, providing evidence of a trophic cascade unleashed in the absence of top-down regulation.

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Published In

Science (New York, N.Y.)

DOI

EISSN

1095-9203

ISSN

0036-8075

Publication Date

November 2001

Volume

294

Issue

5548

Start / End Page

1923 / 1926

Related Subject Headings

  • Venezuela
  • Trees
  • Swine
  • Spiders
  • Rodentia
  • Reproduction
  • Power Plants
  • Population Density
  • Models, Biological
  • Lizards
 

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Terborgh, J., Lopez, L., Nuñez, P., Rao, M., Shahabuddin, G., Orihuela, G., … Balbas, L. (2001). Ecological meltdown in predator-free forest fragments. Science (New York, N.Y.), 294(5548), 1923–1926. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1064397
Terborgh, J., L. Lopez, P. Nuñez, M. Rao, G. Shahabuddin, G. Orihuela, M. Riveros, et al. “Ecological meltdown in predator-free forest fragments.Science (New York, N.Y.) 294, no. 5548 (November 2001): 1923–26. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1064397.
Terborgh J, Lopez L, Nuñez P, Rao M, Shahabuddin G, Orihuela G, et al. Ecological meltdown in predator-free forest fragments. Science (New York, NY). 2001 Nov;294(5548):1923–6.
Terborgh, J., et al. “Ecological meltdown in predator-free forest fragments.Science (New York, N.Y.), vol. 294, no. 5548, Nov. 2001, pp. 1923–26. Epmc, doi:10.1126/science.1064397.
Terborgh J, Lopez L, Nuñez P, Rao M, Shahabuddin G, Orihuela G, Riveros M, Ascanio R, Adler GH, Lambert TD, Balbas L. Ecological meltdown in predator-free forest fragments. Science (New York, NY). 2001 Nov;294(5548):1923–1926.
Journal cover image

Published In

Science (New York, N.Y.)

DOI

EISSN

1095-9203

ISSN

0036-8075

Publication Date

November 2001

Volume

294

Issue

5548

Start / End Page

1923 / 1926

Related Subject Headings

  • Venezuela
  • Trees
  • Swine
  • Spiders
  • Rodentia
  • Reproduction
  • Power Plants
  • Population Density
  • Models, Biological
  • Lizards