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Predator-first strategies are particularly slow, the research found, because they can increase predator numbers without doing the same for prey species that the predators depend on. The research evaluates a variety of policy options that provide for both synchronous and sequential strategies. That suggests that there is room for improvement in many restoration efforts by coordinating the recovery of predator and prey species. A database of marine fisheries showed that past recovery efforts have been about evenly divided between sequential recoveries that put predator or prey first, and synchronous recoveries that the research found are faster and more efficient.
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Policies that protect a single species through a fisheries closure or endangered species listing prioritize the recovery of one species ahead of others in what the scientists described as “prey-first” or “predator-first” recovery efforts. For instance, NOAA Fisheries pursues ecosystem-based fishery management in many parts of the country by considering the interactions among species and the large-scale effects of environmental change that affect coastal communities and economies.
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The findings underscore the advantages of coordinating management and recovery actions on an ecosystem scale, accounting for interactions between species. “Our model predicted that recovering predators and prey in concert was the fastest and most efficient way of accomplishing the recovery of full communities.” “It’s a matter of looking at an ecosystem as a whole, rather than in parts where you focus on one species and then the next,” said Jameal Samhouri, a research fish biologist at NOAA Fisheries’ Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle and lead author of the new study. The research results were published today in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution. They found that pursuing the recovery of one species at a time is slower and less desirable - ecologically and economically - than working to recover predators and prey at the same time. This is why the lynx population rises and falls slightly after the rise and fall of the hare population.Restoring predator and prey species together helps accelerate ecosystem recovery efforts compared to pursuing restoration of one species at a time, new research concludes.Ī team of scientists from NOAA Fisheries, Oregon State University, the University of California Santa Barbara and Imperial College London used models and case studies to examine the pace of species and ecosystem recovery efforts. Why is this? The lynx is very dependent on hares for food, so as the hare population changes so does the lynx population. Predator population changes The lynx population also follows a cyclical pattern very similar to the hare population. Individual hares must compete for food and mates, and must also avoid being killed by lynxes, their predators. Why is this? The hare population changes due to both the vegetation growing season and changes in the lynx population. Prey population changes The hare population follows a cyclical pattern, where it rises and falls in a fairly regular cycle. The size of the two populations are very closely linked. For example, lynxes are a type of wild cat that hunt snowshoe hares in northern parts of North America. Predators and prey A predator is an animal that hunts and kills other animalsfor food.