02 Sep Ecological Engineers: The Vital Role of Nature’s Architects
This blog entry is brought to you by a reader who poses the question:
“How about ecological engineers, the local turtle species?”
Ecological engineers are species that play a vital role in shaping and modifying their ecosystems. Whether that is by creating new habitats, like beavers creating dams or coral growing, and even altering habitats, like arctic foxes building dens that help support wildlife growth, these distinctive species play a vital role in maintaining the biodiversity of their ecosystem.
A diverse species that inhabits New York that plays a key role in maintaining its ecosystems are the various turtle species that live here. A well known common species in New York is the painted turtle. Most notably recognized by red and yellow stripes that are found on their limbs. They spend most of their time in bodies of water like lakes, ponds, and wetlands where their diet consists of eating small animals as well as vegetation and algae. They hold the role of ecological engineers as they help keep their ecosystem in check. By eating vegetation and algae it prevents plant water from overrunning the ecosystem and by consuming algae they help maintain a proper water quality that allows other animals to be able to survive.
Another species that spends its summers in the waters of New York, off of Long Island, are various species of sea turtles including green, Kemp’s ridley, leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles.* They to also help maintain their food web in their environments as Loggerhead sea turtles eat crustaceans and Leatherback sea turtles help control the jellyfish population. Now regarding the other two species, the green sea turtle mainly eats plant material and algae whereas the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle eats mainly crabs, fish, mussels, sea urchins, and shrimp. Though all 4 species inhabit the same area they are able to coexist without overfeeding and diminishing certain prey species as they all somewhat vary in their diet.
Turtles are just a small example of how ecological engineers influence the world around them and impact so many species. We ourselves as humans are most definitely ecological engineers and it can be argued that we are the most influential. From what we create it can not only promote biodiversity but can destroy it as well. This is where we need to make a decision on whether we will take a step forward and save our planet or take a back seat.
*https://dec.ny.gov/nature/animals-fish-plants/sea-turtles#:~:text=As%20water%20temperatures%20begin%20to,turtles%20(see%20table%20below).
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