| Abstract |
Mutualisms often define ecosystems, but they are susceptible to human activities. Combining experiments, animal tracking, and mortality investigations, we show that the invasive big-headed ant ( Pheidole megacephala ) makes lions ( Panthera leo ) less effective at killing their primary prey, plains zebra ( Equus quagga ). Big-headed ants disrupted the mutualism between native ants ( Crematogaster spp.) and the dominant whistling-thorn tree ( Vachellia drepanolobium ), rendering trees vulnerable to elephant ( Loxodonta africana ) browsing and resulting in landscapes with higher visibility. Although zebra kills were significantly less likely to occur in higher-visibility, invaded areas, lion numbers did not decline since the onset of the invasion, likely because of prey-switching to African buffalo ( Syncerus caffer ). We show that by controlling biophysical structure across landscapes, a tiny invader reconfigured predator-prey dynamics among iconic species. |
| Authors |
Douglas Kamaru   , Todd M. Palmer , Corinna Riginos , Adam T. Ford , Jayne Belnap , Robert Chira , John M. Githaiga , Benard Gituku , Brandon R. Hays , Cyrus M. Kavwele , Alfred K. Kibungei , Clayton T. Lamb , Nelly J. Maiyo , Patrick Milligan , Samuel Mutisya , Caroline C. Ng’weno , Michael Ogutu , Alejandro G. Pietrek , Brendon Wildt , Jacob R. Goheen
|
| Journal Info |
American Association for the Advancement of Science | Science , vol: 383
, iss: 6681
, pages: 433 - 438
|
| Publication Date |
1/26/2024 |
| ISSN |
0036-8075 |
Type |
article |
| Open Access |
closed
|
| DOI |
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adg1464 |
| Keywords |
Plant-Animal Interactions (Score: 0.485846)
|
