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Weasels, not pandas, should be the poster animal for biodiversity loss

David Jachowski, Associate Professor of Wildlife Ecology, Clemson University , The Conversation on

Published in Science & Technology News

We also know that compared with larger species, small carnivores have shorter lives and use smaller areas. This allows them to respond quickly to even minor fluctuations in temperature, habitat change and food availability. In my research over the past 23 years, I have learned that these attributes make small carnivores sensitive indicators of even minor shifts in how well their ecosystems work.

A prime example comes from the Channel Islands off the coast of California, home to the diminutive island fox, a species found nowhere else on earth. In the late 1990s land and wildlife managers noticed a decline in island foxes, which coincided with the decline of bald eagles and arrival of golden eagles on the islands. Golden eagles preyed on the foxes, as well as on non-native wild pigs. At one point the fox population was reduced to fewer than 100 individuals.

Restoring island foxes was a complex initiative that involved reintroducing bald eagles – which prey on fish, not mammals – to the islands to chase off golden eagles; eradicating introduced pigs, which served as food for the golden eagles and altered the vegetation where the foxes sheltered; restoring shrubs and grasses; and breeding foxes in captivity, then releasing them. This effort is one of the most prominent examples of biologists intervening to reverse a species’ slide toward extinction.

More broadly, the island fox story shows that small carnivores can provide unique insight into the structure of ecosystems, because they are at the centers of food webs. Look at the diet of a fox or weasel and you have a great snapshot of how many species are present in that ecosystem.

Losing small carnivores can change ecosystems. Many small carnivores typically prey on small seed-eating rodents like mice and gophers. This reduces rodent impacts on plants and farm crops. It also helps to reduce the spread of tick-borne diseases, since small rodents can serve as hosts for infected ticks.

For these reasons, I and other ecologists argue that it makes sense to use small carnivores as barometers of ecosystem health. This would mean replacing polar bears with weasels as global warming poster animals, and keying in on ocelots rather than jaguars to understand how rainforest destruction is affecting wildlife.

 

While lions and polar bears are important, I believe ferrets, weasels and foxes deserve the same kind of protection and are a more precise tool for measuring how ecosystems are responding to a rapidly changing world.

This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: David Jachowski, Clemson University . The Conversation has a variety of fascinating free newsletters.

Read more:
How do arctic foxes hunt in the snow?

Animals large and small once covered North America’s prairies – and in some places, they could again

David Jachowski does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.


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