ABOVE: The female jaguar Isis is part of a breeding project in the Iberá wetlands in Argentina. Her offspring will be reintroduced into the wild.
MATÍAS REBAK
Around the world, predators have powerful, yet diverse and nuanced effects on the living world around them. These effects often manifest as trophic cascades, whereby predators indirectly influence the abundance of plants or other organisms at the bottom of the food web, either by killing their herbivore prey or changing prey behavior.
So far, much knowledge about the role of apex predators is based on correlational evidence, often based on the effects of their population declines. But researchers around the world are using a number of experimental approaches to produce stronger evidence, and in some cases, are actively tracking the effects of predator reintroductions to secure a better understanding of the animals’ ecological roles.
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