An intriguing article by Periquet and Revilla in the Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society. Titled “The Lion King and the Hyaena Queen: large carnivore interactions and coexistence” the authors review the known literature about how lions and hyenas, top predators in Africa ecosystems, get along (or not) The authors say: “Interactions among species, which range from competition to facilitation, have profound effects on ecosystem functioning. Large carnivores are of particular importance in shaping community structure since they are at the top of the food chain, and many efforts are made to conserve such keystone species. Despite this, the mechanisms of carnivore interactions are far from understood, yet they are key to enabling or hindering their coexistence and hence are highly relevant for their conservation. We stress the fact that prey abundance is key to their coexistence and that hyaenas forming very large groups in rich ecosystems could have a negative impact on lions. We show that the coexistence of spotted hyaenas and lions is a complex balance between competition and facilitation, and that prey availability within the ecosystem determines which predator is dominant. As both species survival becomes increasingly dependent on protected areas, where their densities can be high, it is critical to understand their interactions… “ Hyenas and lions have coexisted for hundreds of thousands of years, a span well exceeding the influence of our tentative human ancestors in Africa. Dereck Joubert made a bit of a sensational film calling them “eternal enemies”, but the title was probably right. Hyenas and lions now face another eternal enemy – humans. The survival of both species will likely depend on the survival of protected areas in Africa. And unfortunately, protected areas in Africa are increasingly becoming highly endangered…. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25530248?dopt=Abstract
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 22:23:11 +0000
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