A global class reunion with multiple groups feasting on the declining insect smorgasbord

: Vesterinen EJ, Kaunisto KM, Lilley TM

Publisher: NATURE RESEARCH

: 2020

: Scientific Reports

: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS

: SCI REP-UK

: ARTN 16595

: 10

: 1

: 7

: 2045-2322

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-73609-9

: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/50316635

We report a detection of a surprising similarity in the diet of predators across distant phyla. Though just a first glimpse into the subject, our discovery contradicts traditional aspects of biology, as the earliest notions in ecology have linked the most severe competition of resources with evolutionary relatedness. We argue that our finding deserves more research, and propose a plan to reveal more information on the current biodiversity loss around the world. While doing so, we expand the recently proposed conservation roadmaps into a parallel study of global interaction networks.

s41598-020-73609-9.pdf