School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia.
Ecol Lett. 2010 Aug 1;13(8):1008-18. doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01492.x. Epub 2010 Jun 10.
Invasive species are regarded as one of the top five drivers of the global extinction crisis. In response, extreme measures have been applied in an attempt to control or eradicate invasives, with little success overall. We tested the idea that state shifts to invasive dominance are symptomatic of losses in ecosystem resilience, due to the suppression of apex predators. This concept was investigated in Australia where the high rate of mammalian extinctions is largely attributed to the destructive influence of invasive species. Intensive pest control is widely applied across the continent, simultaneously eliminating Australia's apex predator, the dingo (Canis lupus dingo). We show that predator management accounts for shifts between two main ecosystem states. Lethal control fractures dingo social structure and leads to bottom-up driven increases in invasive mesopredators and herbivores. Where control is relaxed, dingoes re-establish top-down regulation of ecosystems, allowing for the recovery of biodiversity and productivity.
入侵物种被认为是全球物种灭绝危机的五大驱动因素之一。有鉴于此，人们已经采取了极端措施试图控制或消灭入侵物种，但总体来说收效甚微。我们提出了这样一种观点，即入侵优势的状态转变是生态系统恢复力丧失的表现，这是由于顶级捕食者受到抑制。这一概念在澳大利亚得到了验证，澳大利亚哺乳动物的高灭绝率在很大程度上归因于入侵物种的破坏性影响。该大陆广泛应用密集型害虫防治措施，同时消灭了澳大利亚的顶级捕食者——野犬（Canis lupus dingo）。我们表明，捕食者管理解释了两种主要生态系统状态之间的转变。致命控制破坏了野犬的社会结构，导致食肉类和食草类中间捕食者呈自下而上驱动的增加。控制放松后，野犬重新建立了对生态系统的自上而下的调节，从而促进了生物多样性和生产力的恢复。
