'Kings of the hill' vital for sculpting healthy ecosystems
Posted Thu, 14 Jul 2011 18:00:00 GMT by Martin Leggett
The 'apex consumers' of the living world - the lions and tigers and bears, not to mention whales - play an often overlooked role in shaping the ecosystem they sit at the top of. A new review in Science out today, from 24 ecologists, points to the dramatic effects that the weakening of those at the top of the food chain can have - and calls for a new approach that values the conservation of the 'kings of the hill'.
'Kings of the hill' vital for sculpting healthy ecosystems