23rd August 2024
Ecosystem engineers have an ability to modify resources they have to hand to alter their environment. This alteration maybe to change or to destroy or to maintain (ie prevent change) a habitat. Coral species that form coral reefs, and trees that form forests, both have the impact of radically changing the environment into which they move. Beavers are well known for creating new habitats by felling trees and damming water ways. Prairie dogs by tunnelling and turning over the soil, provide accessible habitats for other burrowing mammals, birds, snakes and toads. They also keep the grass nibbled short, providing a favoured habitat for various birds, as well as enabling the prairie dogs to spot would-be predators – and their whistled alarm alerts other creatures in the vicinity too.
Many living beings, on land and in water, are important because they can engineer environments that support a greater diversity of life forms than might otherwise be the case. Humans fall into this category of ecosystem engineers but the outcome is not always one that promotes greater biodiversity.
The Green Tau 