The smallest of species' actions can cause rippling effects throughout an entire ecosystem, and impact some of the largest. 🦁 Tiny #invasivespecies in East Africa are showing just how much they can disrupt the circle of life. 🐜 An internationa… Continue reading

The smallest of species' actions can cause rippling effects throughout an entire ecosystem, and impact some of the largest. 🦁

Tiny #invasivespecies in East Africa are showing just how much they can disrupt the circle of life. 🐜

An international team of #NSFfunded scientists' recent publication in Science Magazine examines how invasive big-headed ants are making lions less effective at killing their favorite prey — zebra.

How could a teeny ant throw off the king of the jungle? 🤨

Since their introduction to Kenya from an island in the Indian Ocean, big-headed ants have overtaken a native ant's mutualistic relationship with the foundational whistling-thorn trees, which span hundreds of thousands of miles across East Africa. Without the native ants' protection, the trees are left vulnerable to elephants' voracious appetites, resulting in less stalking cover for lions. 👀🦓

Read the article to find out more: https://www.owlindex.com/oi/vh4NaOpl

📸 Caroline Ng'weno, Patrick Milligan, Brandon Hays

#conservation #biology #conservationbiology