Credit of ecological interactions: A new conceptual framework to support conservation in a defaunated world.

ABSTRACT: As defaunation spreads through the world, there is an urgent need for restoring ecological interactions, thus assuring ecosystem processes. Here, we define the new concept of credit of ecological interactions, as the number of interactions that can be restored in a focal area by species colonization or reintroduction. We also define rewiring time, as the time span until all the links that build the credit of ecological interactions of a focal area have become functional again. We expect that the credit will be gradually cashed following refaunation in rates that are proportional to (1) the abundance of the reintroduced species (that is expected to increase in time since release), (2) the abundance of the local species that interact with them, and (3) the traits of reintroduce

SUBMITTER: Genes L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5355187 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature