Ecosystem engineering by deep-nesting monitor lizards

Abstract

As the current biodiversity crisis approaches levels comparable to the rates of the five historical mass extinctions, increasing attention has focused on how to stop or slow species loss and preserve ecosystem function. The impact of the loss of an individual species on communities and ecosystems is heterogeneous, however. Removing some species has negligible effects while the removal of others can be catastrophic. Metaphorically, the scenario can be likened to Jenga, a popular block-balancing game in which players build a tower of wooden pieces, analogous to a dynamic ecosystem (de Ruiter et al. 2005).