Great whales exert powerful effects on the environment as predators, prey, and bodies sinking to a final rest in the deep dark, sometimes boosting the productivity of ecosystems in non-obvious ways. The mass disappearance of the great whales in the last few centuries, leaving them at a tenth of their historical numbers, has likely changed the functioning of ocean itself.
A group of marine ecology heavyweights led by Joe Roman review the science on the influence of whale on ocean ecosystems in "Whales as marine ecosystem engineers," published ahead of print this week in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. More: http://www.esa.org/esablog/research/poo-pump-whales-as-ecosystem-engineers/ ******** Liza Lester Communications Officer Ecological Society of America Washington, DC
