Apex predators also evoke strong emotional responses in people, varying from wonder and amazement to fear and spite ( 2). Apex predators (for example, whales, cougars, bears, wolves, sharks, and eagles) are consumers that kill their prey during or shortly following an attack, consume many prey over a lifetime, and are not eaten after reaching adult size ( 1). Many of the most iconic and charismatic species in the natural world are apex predators, yet they are also often embedded in controversy. INTRODUCTION: WHY APEX PREDATOR RECOVERY?
Foremost among these is the importance of a social-ecological perspective in facilitating a long-lasting predator restoration while avoiding unintended consequences. Consideration of recent research on food web modules, alternative stable states, and community assembly offer important insights for predator recovery efforts and restoration ecology more generally. Third, successful recovery programs require designing adaptive sequences of management strategies that embrace key environmental and species interactions as they emerge. Second, defining and accomplishing predator recovery in the context of a dynamic ecosystem requires an appreciation of the timing of recovery, which can determine the relative density of apex predators and other predators and therefore affect competitive outcomes. First, a priori identification of the suite of trophic interactions, such as resource limitation and competition that will influence recovery can be difficult. We argue that, in addition to well-known considerations, such as continued exploitation and slow life histories, there are several underappreciated factors that complicate predator recoveries.
Second extinction apex account full#
We suggest that full recovery of viable apex predator populations is currently the exception rather than the rule. In attempts to combat declines, managers have conducted reintroductions, imposed stricter harvest regulations, and implemented protected areas. This “trophic downgrading” has generated widespread concern because of the fundamental role that apex predators can play in ecosystem functioning, disease regulation, and biodiversity maintenance. Habitat loss, overexploitation, and numerous other stressors have caused global declines in apex predators.
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