If you are a regular listener to the podcast or you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I read a fair number of scientific papers on subjects of conservation and ecology. Some of them are related to topics I’m investigating for the podcast and some others are just interesting for me. However, every once in a while I come across a research paper that is so cool, that I just can’t not bring it to your attention.
The paper that we discuss in this episode describes how an invasive species of ants disrupts lion hunting behaviour. There are also acacia trees, elephants, zebras and buffalos involved in the whole chain of interactions between species. To talk about this incredibly interesting research I invited an Associate Professor, Adam Ford, Canada Research Chair in Wildlife Restoration Ecology at the University of British Columbia in Kelowna, Canada who has a lab of graduate and undergraduate students who work on large mammal ecology. As for the paper that we will discuss today, it was led by Douglas N. Kamaru, a PhD student at the University of Wyoming, in the Goheen lab (Professor Jake Goheen). The other leads are Todd M. Palmer, University of Florida and Corinna Riginos, University of Wyoming. To see the full list of contributors (a total of 20 scientists) I refer you to the paper, which is linked below.
As always, you will get more links and articles to dive even deeper into topics we discuss on the podcast in my newsletter. So make sure you subscribe to not miss out on any nerdy, ecological goodness.
Science: Disruption of an ant-plant mutualism shapes interactions between lions and their primary prey
Science Daily: Tiny ant species disrupts lion’s hunting behavior
Popular Science: Invasive ants leave lions scrambling for prey on the savannah in an ecological chain reaction
Tommy's Outdoors 