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Publications
Michael R. Heithaus, Alejandro Frid, Aaron J. Wirsing and Boris Worm
Predicting ecological consequences of marine top predator declines. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 2008.
Abstract:
Recent studies document unprecedented declines in marine top predators that can initiate trophic cascades.
Predicting the wider ecological consequences of these declines requires understanding how predators influence
communities by inflicting mortality on prey and inducing behavioral modifications (risk effects). Both
mechanisms are important in marine communities, and a sole focus on the effects of predator-inflicted
mortality might severely underestimate the importance of predators. We outline direct and indirect consequences
of marine predator declines and propose an integrated predictive framework that includes risk
effects, which appear to be strongest for long-lived prey species and when resources are abundant. We conclude
that marine predators should be managed for the maintenance of both density- and risk-driven ecological processes,
and not demographic persistence alone.
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