The Importance of Apex Predators:

The dingo is Australia's top, or apex, terrestrial predator. Sitting at the top of the food chain they play a vital role in keeping the numbers of prey in check, which in turn helps the ecosystem maintain a balance. In ecosystems all around the world the importance of the apex predators is becoming clearer.

Just as an exercise, picture in your mind a pristine coral reef.

Now click here;

Kingman Reef is one of the most isolated reefs in the world, which means that man is yet to destroy its fragile ecosystem. What we find there is a reef largely as nature intends it to be. That is large numbers of predators, perpetually hungry, with small numbers of prey with an ability to reproduce in large quanties very quickly. If these slow growing predators are removed, which is easily done, then the smaller fish increase in numbers to a point that the environment can't sustain. Eventually something has to give.

While the dynamics of a marine environment are different to that of a terrestrial one, this gives us a glimpse of how things should be, which we can compare to how things are. This gives us a better understanding of why reefs around the world are dying... and the importance of the apex predators.

On land the setup is slightly different. The numbers of prey outnumber the predators, but they have to. Many prey animals, particulary the larger ones only produce one or two offspring at a time.

If these prey species are allowed to reproduce without something culling the weak, the sick and the unlucky, then they too will reach numbers that the environment just cant sustain.

Many environments in the world, including much of Australia's are actualy very fragile and take a long time to recover, if ever at all, from the devastation that can be caused by too many grazing/browsing animals.

For instance, it's taken over fifteen years to see the environmental benefits of the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park.

With the wolves gone the numbers of elk grew unchecked putting huge pressure on the grazing lands. Not only do the wolves keep their numbers in check, they also keep the herds moving. In the past herd would remain in the one area feasting, only moving on when the food had been exhausted. This put enormous pressure on native grasses, prevented many species of tree from establishing saplings and led to erosion of riverbanks.

Now, with the wolves keeping the numbers in check, and keeping the elk moving about they are seeing a greater biodiversity of grasses and wildfowers, which is leading to a greater bidiversity of insects and birds. Fir trees are establishing saplings to replace the older dying trees in places that have not seen any new recruitment for years. Riverbanks are more stable and the health of the river systems is improving, with fish numbers increasing and beavers returning to areas they have not been seen for decades.

Overall the positive sides to the returning of wolves to Yellowstone is quite amazing, pleasently surprising those involved in the project.

Here in Australia, studies are staring to show that areas with healthy dingo populations actually have a higher number of smaller native animals, including those species regarded as endangered. The reasons for this are twofold.

First of all they keep the numbers of larger grazers in check, and most probably keep them on the move, taking the pressure off native grasses. The native grasses again are a cornerstone to our ecosystem as they provide food and shelter to many smaller native species of animals. Those that don't rely on the grasses directly often prey on those that do.

The other way in which dingoes help the survival of smaller native critters is that they keep down the number of feral predators such as foxes and cats.

The larger land predators on most continents have one thing in common - very little tolerence of other predatory species. quite often, even if the dont consume them, large predators will kill or at least drive off other predatory animals. You don't have to see too many documentries of the African Savanahs to witness this.

Even today many involved in the conservation of endangered native species see the dingo as a threat, even though numerous studies show that these species only make a small portion of their diet, even in areas where they still have higher numbers.

Many people will claim that the dingo is not native to Australia. This really is a mute point. You could claim either way whether 5000 years constitutes native, depending on where you draw you definitions from. On thing that is hard to refute, is that after 5000 years here, the dingo has become an integral part of the ecosystem. When they first came they may very well have had a large impact on the landscape (nothing compared to what white man has done in 200 odd years though), but atre thousands of years an ecosystem has evolved around them being the apex predators