The Changing Face of Ecology: Part 3
Tag Archives: behaviour
Episode 8: The Gremlins/Mogwai
We kick down the kitchen door and go to bloody war with the Mogwai, from 1984’s Christmas classic Gremlins. Dave gives China tips for invasion, Sam says the word ‘tarsier’ too much and Adam can’t resist showing off how much Mandarin he doesn’t know.
5:52 – History of the Gremlins
18:02 – Movie Any Good?
21:40 – Physiology of a Mogwai
44:11 – Ecology of a Mogwai
1:02:32 – The Gremlins vs. Gollum
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Victory May Not Guarantee Survival in Species Conflicts
Spreading of the Australian yabby has led to decreases in other local species. But what happens when these species meet? (Image Credit: Daiju Azuma, CC BY-SA 2.5)
Insight into invasion: Interactions between a critically endangered and invasive cray fish (2018) Lopez et al., Austral Ecology, doi:10.1111/aec.12654
The Crux
When we talk about invasive species, often the first thing that pops into our minds are things like feral cats, wild pigs, vicious newcomers that wipe out species or transform vast areas. But often what we focus on less are species which arrive and simply outcompete the locals.
The yabby (Cherax destructor) is one such invader. An Australian species, it has been introduced to new waterways through the country and is now threatening other species, including the Falls Spiny Crayfish (Euastacus dharawalus) in eastern New South Wales, Australia. The introduction of the yabby has resulted in a decreasing habitat range for the crayfish, but what sort of mechanisms are causing this? This experiment aimed to document interactions between the two species.
