Article Title: Ecosystems on the Brink Author/Source: Carl Zimmer MAIN POINTS: Whether it's fishing, converting land

d into farms/cities, or warming the planet, humans are stressing the world's ecosystems. As a result, ecologists expect many more food webs to flip in the years ahead. Early-Warning systems tell us when to change human activities that are pushing ecosystems towards a breakdown. Water fleas and other tiny animals that were devoured by the small fish flourished. Because these animals graze on algae, the lake water became clearer. The ecosystem remains in altered state 2 years later. In July 2008 at Peter Lake (Near Washington-Michigan), a group of scientists and graduate students led by ecologist Stephen Carpenter dropped 12 largemouth bass into the water, leaving behind sensors that measure water clarity every 5 minutes for 24 hours a day. To make sense of snarls, ecologists turned food webs into mathematical models. Link reproduction rate to how much food it can obtain and how often it gets eaten by other species. Because variables can change, solving equations for simple food webs are overwhelming. Ecologists realize that certain predators have massive impacts on food webs. Ex/ -Without the wolf at Yellowstone National Park, it led to a boom in elk, which killed many trees. Many of the flips taken ecologists by surprise. When a food web drastically changes, it often stays that way, returning to normal state is hard. Climate change also affects food webs, shifting range of predator and prey. Scientists could see subtle but distinct patterns before ecosystems change. One pattern is when an ecosystem is disturbed, by disease or temperature, it takes longer before it goes back to normal.

AUTHOR'S POINT: Human activities are pushing ecosystems to a breakdown, which leads to the flipping of food webs. To find solutions to these problems, scientists have begun to look at food webs. Food webs are complex and can have up to more than a thousand species. Scientists found that food webs were found to have weak links and strong links. Strong links, being two animals that interact with each other. A team of ecologists and graduate students experimented at Peter Lake in Washington-Michigan. The experiment was adding bass to the lake. Over time, smaller fish were flourishing and the predators of them were gone. This showed that the food web was flipped. With the experiment, it helped create a monitoring system. With the help of these monitoring systems, scientists are now able to find early warning signs of these flipped food webs. If scientists are able to know when these food webs are able going to flip, then it can tell us humans to alter the way were are using the ecosystem.

MY THOUGHTS: The author of this article explains how the team of graduate students and an ecologist experimented on Peter Lake. Their experiment flipped the food web. I think that this experiment was a positive thing toward the lake and to the community. It is more of a positive, because the experiment helped develop monitors that tell when an ecosystem is being pushed to a breakdown, or when a food web will flip. This monitor can lead to new breakthroughs in technology which can lead to better statistics.

Say What? A group of scientists developed a monitor to find when we are pushing an ecosystem too far. What if..?

Says who? Carl Zimmer What does this remind you of? Tragedy of the Commons- Sacrificing for the better of the community.