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Experimental evidence for ecological cascades following threatened mammal reintroduction

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posted on 2025-05-05, 04:52 authored by Heloise GibbHeloise Gibb, Colin J Silvey, Chloe RobinsonChloe Robinson, FA L’Hotellier, DJ Eldridge
Species extinction has reached unprecedented rates globally, and can cause unexpected ecological cascades. Since Europeans arrived in Australia, many endemic mammals have declined or become extinct, but their ecological roles and outcomes of their reintroduction for ecosystems are poorly understood. Using surveys and novel long-term exclusion and disturbance experiments, we tested how digging mammal reintroduction affects predatory invertebrates. Mammal exclusion tended to decrease bare ground. Although scorpion burrow abundance increased with bare ground, mammals also had direct negative effects on scorpions. Increased disturbance alone decreased scorpion abundance, but other mechanisms, such as predation, also contributed to the mammal effect. Despite negative associations between scorpions and spiders, both groups increased and spider composition changed following mammal exclusion. Our long-term research showed that threatened digging mammals drive ecosystem cascades, affecting biota through a variety of pathways. Reintroductions of locally extinct digging mammals can restore ecosystems, but ecosystem cascades may lead to unexpected restructuring.

Funding

Australia and Pacific Science Foundation (APSF 0904 to H. Gibb and Matthew Hayward) and the Australian Research Council (FT130100821 to H. Gibb).

History

Publication Date

2021-01-01

Journal

Ecology

Volume

102

Issue

1

Article Number

e03191

Pagination

12p.

Publisher

Wiley

ISSN

0012-9658

Rights Statement

© 2020 Ecological Society of America This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Gibb, H., C. J. Silvey, C. Robinson, F. A. L'Hotellier, and D. J. Eldridge. 2021. Experimental evidence for ecological cascades following threatened mammal reintroduction. Ecology 102(1) :e03191, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3191. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.