Article Title: Ecosystems on the Brink
Author: Carl Zimmer
Food webs can be very complex because they include dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of species. They consist of many weak links rather than a few strong links. Two species are strongly linked if they interact a lot; two species are weakly linked if they interact occasionally. Food webs are dominated by weak links because the arrangement is more stable over a long period of time. Weak links can keep species from driving one another to extinction. To understand food webs ecologists link the growth of one species to its reproduction rate, how much food it can obtain, and how often it gets eat by other species.
After reading this article, I think we need to be more aware of what we're doing to the ecosystem. Humans are the cause for many problems in the ecosystem, whether by over fishing, deforestation, or global warming. However, once ecosystems pass their tipping point, it is difficult for them to return. We need to know when we are pushing an ecosystem to the brink, so we can stop pushing. I think it is really important to know what the breaking point is so we don't go to far over and accidentally cause a species to go extinct.
Author: Carl Zimmer
- Problems of the ecosystem are caused mainly by humans, whether by over fishing, deforestation, global warming.
- Food webs can be very complex.
- Once ecosystems pass their tipping point, it is difficult for them to return.
- Food webs can include dozens, hundreds or thousands of species.
- Growth of species is determined by reproduction rate, how much food it can obtain, how often it gets eaten by other species.
- Food webs consist of many weak links rather than a few strong ones; is dominated by weak links because arrangement is more stable over long period of time.
- Two species are strongly linked if they interact a lot and are weakly linked if they interact occasionally.
- Weak links keep species from driving one another to extinction.
- Hunting and fishing cause food webs to flip.
Food webs can be very complex because they include dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of species. They consist of many weak links rather than a few strong links. Two species are strongly linked if they interact a lot; two species are weakly linked if they interact occasionally. Food webs are dominated by weak links because the arrangement is more stable over a long period of time. Weak links can keep species from driving one another to extinction. To understand food webs ecologists link the growth of one species to its reproduction rate, how much food it can obtain, and how often it gets eat by other species.
After reading this article, I think we need to be more aware of what we're doing to the ecosystem. Humans are the cause for many problems in the ecosystem, whether by over fishing, deforestation, or global warming. However, once ecosystems pass their tipping point, it is difficult for them to return. We need to know when we are pushing an ecosystem to the brink, so we can stop pushing. I think it is really important to know what the breaking point is so we don't go to far over and accidentally cause a species to go extinct.