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Aquatic predators can affect both their ecosystems and the human societies that depend on them in numerous ways. (A) Controlling food webs: sharks alter the abundance, diversity, behavior, diet, and shape of coral reef fishes they consume. (B) Nutrient cycling: spawning migrations of Pacific salmon effectively transfer nutrients from oceans to rivers, streams and lakes, via nutrient excretion, salmon consumption by predators, and through decomposition of carcasses post spawning. (C) Ecosystem engineers: in wetlands, alligators bulldoze sediments and vegetation, creating water-filled "alligator holes", which serve as critical habitat for fishes and turtles and sources of drinking water for birds and small mammals. (D) Disease transmission: in tropical rivers, predatory prawns eat the snails that are hosts for human schistosomiasis. (E) Species invasions: off the Pacific Northwest, sea otters and large starfish selectively feed on native mussels, facilitating the invasion of an exotic bryozoan by reducing competition for space. (F) Climate change mediation: in Western Australia, the presence of tiger sharks appears to cause dugongs and sea turtles to limit their consumption of seagrass, which increases primary production, CO2 uptake, and maintains sediment carbon stocks. (G) Tourism: viewing of toothed-whales creates jobs and supports local economies (H): Fisheries: humans depend on fish as a source of food, recreation (angling), and jobs. (I) Bioinspiration: novel materials engineered with shark skin-mimicking surfaces are being used to design more aerodynamic drones, planes, and wind turbines. Image modified from Figure 1 in Hammerschlag et al. (2019, Trends in Ecology & Evolution).
Credit
Hiram Enriquez
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