Earthworms - The Ecological Engineers of Soil

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Engineers

scholarly journals A spatial ecological analysis of the reintroduction of the Eurasian beaver

2021 ◽  
Vol 937 (2) ◽  
pp. 022003
Author(s):  
Junshuang Yu ◽  
Matthew Dennis
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Analysis Tool ◽  
Building Structures ◽  
Ecological Analysis ◽  
R Language ◽  
Eurasian Beaver ◽  
Language Analysis ◽  
Potential Habitats ◽  
Observational Record ◽  
Ecological Engineers

Abstract As ‘nature’s ecological engineers’ beavers can intentionally modify their habitat by building structures. This ability can have wider environmental benefits, including benefits for other habitats and species. However, this ability to modify the environment can sometimes be destructive, bringing beavers into conflict with land managers and others. To understand the complex connections between Eurasian beavers and ecosystems, this study was based on R language analysis tool that used land cover types, river network distribution and observational record studies of Eurasian beavers to find their most preferred environmental resources and potential habitats. The results found that reintroduced Eurasian beavers have a high potential for settlement and dispersal in restored areas.

The “Secret Recipe” of Galápagos

2021 ◽  
pp. 48-82
Author(s):  
William H. Durham
Keyword(s):  
Prickly Pear ◽  
Shell Shape ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Main Food ◽  
Prickly Pear Cactus ◽  
Creative Force ◽  
Petri Dishes ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Pear Cactus ◽  
Ecological Engineers

Galápagos tortoises demonstrate the special “creative force” of evolution in the archipelago, having radiated into 15 species—each with a characteristic shell shape—within the last 3.2 million years. Formed over an active mid-ocean volcanic hotspot, Galápagos islands have also changed dramatically in the same period, providing new and diverse “petri dishes” for tortoise evolution. In these new homes, which are low, dry islands, where the tortoise’s main food is prickly pear cactus (which has concurrently evolved a protective treelike stature), tortoises evolved impressive new features, including saddlebacked shells and extra-long limbs. On all the islands where they occur, tortoises serve as “ecological engineers,” building suitable niches for themselves (and incidentally for other species). In the case of domed-shell tortoises, those niches include tortoise-maintained wallows, meadows, and migration trails. Heavily hunted in Galápagos history, most tortoise species are rebounding today, some from tortoises rediscovered in the novel places they had been carried by early mariners in their quest for food.

scholarly journals Harvester ants as ecological engineers for Mediterranean grassland restoration: Impacts on soil and vegetation

2020 ◽  
Vol 245 ◽  
pp. 108547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tania De Almeida ◽  
Olivier Blight ◽  
François Mesléard ◽  
Adeline Bulot ◽  
Erick Provost ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Grassland Restoration ◽  
Harvester Ants ◽  
Ecological Engineers

Herbivorous mites as ecological engineers: indirect effects on arthropods inhabiting papaya foliage

Oecologia ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 135 (3) ◽  
pp. 442-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valérie Fournier ◽  
Jay A. Rosenheim ◽  
Jacques Brodeur ◽  
Lee O. Laney ◽  
Marshall W. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Indirect Effects ◽  
Ecological Engineers

scholarly journals Ecological Engineers: Southeastern Pocket Gophers Are One of Nature's Architects

EDIS ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 2008 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel J. Miller ◽  
Steve A. Johnson ◽  
Lora L. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Engineering ◽  
Pocket Gophers ◽  
Wildlife Ecology ◽  
Fact Sheet ◽  
Live Oak ◽  
Oak Trees ◽  
Environmental Engineer ◽  
Ecological Engineers

WEC-244, a 4-page illustrated fact sheet by Gabriel J. Miller, Steve A. Johnson, and Lora L. Smith, explains autogenic and allogenic environmental engineering, with brief discussions of live oak trees and beavers as examples, and describes the southeastern pocket gopher’s role in Florida ecosystems as an allogenic environmental engineer. Published by the UF Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, April 2008. WEC244/UW285: Ecological Engineers: Southeastern Pocket Gophers Are One of Nature's Architects (ufl.edu)

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document