Top predators provide insurance against climate change.
Recent research by Wilmers et al. shows that top predators might buffer some of the ecological effects of climate change. Top predators can regulate the structure of entire communities and dampen their variability; however, in their absence, prey populations are likely to fluctuate greatly owing to bottom-up factors. Restoring top predators to their natural environment could provide insurance against undesired effects of climate change on ecological communities.
Sala
Enric
E
Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA 92093-0202, USA. esala@ucsd.edu
D000818:Animals; D002980:Climate; D036262:Empirical Research; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011235:Predatory Behavior