I recently got back the grade for my dissertation about ecosystem engineers, and only today thought of the idea to make an ecosystem engineers pack concept for Planet Zoo.
First of all, definitions. An ecosystem engineer is an animal that, through its direct action on the environment, inadvertently creates habitats for other species. For example, an animal that digs a burrow that then may be used by other animals may be considered an ecosystem engineer. In fact, there are already a number of animals in the game that are considered ecosystem engineers, including the aardvark, Chinese pangolin, both elephants, the buffalo, bison and zebra, both giant tortoises, the hippopotamus, white rhinoceros, both brown and Formosan black bears and possibly also the flamingo and goliath frog. These animals are often priorities for conservation, as they support a huge variety of other species with their activity.
Without further ado, here are my ideas for five ecosystem engineering animals in the game:
American beaver: This is perhaps the archetypal example of an ecosystem engineer - they cut down trees and dam rivers, creating flooded woodlands and still water that increase the numbers of invertebrates, amphibians, fish, breeding birds and bats. They would add another diving species to the game and are a fairly regular species in captivity.
European badger: Badgers dig among the largest burrow systems of any animal which can be so big that they can accommodate several other species including foxes and raccoon dogs alongside the badgers; they also change what kinds of plants can grow by bringing nutrient-poor soil up from below ground. This would add a new burrowing species to the game, which is one of the most recognisable mustelids and not too uncommon in smaller European zoos.
Red river hog: This African forest pig creates, by rooting through soil and leaf litter with its snout, the perfect patches of cleared ground for rainforest trees to germinate and allow a greater variety of tree species to grow. This is by far the most commonly-kept of the five species listed here to be kept in zoos; they have added advantages of being amenable to mixing with a huge variety of other animals and being one of the most boldly coloured of the wild pigs.
Superb lyrebird: This ecosystem engineering terrestrial songbird benefits not only the environment but people with its behaviour; as they scratch through leaf litter for food, they accelerate its decomposition and reduce fuel loads for wildfires by up to 25%; this species is not kept outside Australia but within Australia there are at least four zoos that keep them.
Exhibit) Arabian spiny tailed lizard: Conservationists now suggest that a way to reduce extinction risk in warming climates is to protect burrow-making species - we already know that animals including beetles, geckos, scorpions and even larks will duck inside the burrows of this vulnerable Middle Eastern lizard to escape the desert's daytime heat; this species is present in captivity.
Foliage in the pack would probably only include a couple of new species:
European elder Sambucus nigra: A common European small tree/shrub that is particularly abundant around the setts of European badgers
Raffia palm Raphia palma-pinus: A West African palm tree that is among the plants that benefits most from the rooting behaviour of the red river hog
However, there would be some additional options for plants already in game. For example, there could be a stump, fallen trunk and regrowing stump of the quaking aspen (allowing a more natural-looking beaver display) or umbrella thorn acacias that have either been bark-stripped or totally felled to represent elephant damage. Because several ecosystem engineers already in-game (aardvark, pangolin) or in this pack (badger) are burrowers, some tree roots that can be 'hung' on walls or earth banks could help with subterranean themed areas.
Further decorations could include things like sand or soil spoil heaps, which could make habitats for burrowing animals feel more realistic, an artificial dam and lodge for the beavers (most zoos I know of simply build these themselves, rather than letting the beavers trash their enclosure) and a broken-branch nest that can be hung in trees, which could add realism for the Formosan black bear (whose ecosystem engineering behaviour is opening gaps in the canopy by building feeding platforms) and also for the great apes that also build nests.
I would also use this as an opportunity to give burrowing animations to both the aardvark and the Chinese pangolin.
First of all, definitions. An ecosystem engineer is an animal that, through its direct action on the environment, inadvertently creates habitats for other species. For example, an animal that digs a burrow that then may be used by other animals may be considered an ecosystem engineer. In fact, there are already a number of animals in the game that are considered ecosystem engineers, including the aardvark, Chinese pangolin, both elephants, the buffalo, bison and zebra, both giant tortoises, the hippopotamus, white rhinoceros, both brown and Formosan black bears and possibly also the flamingo and goliath frog. These animals are often priorities for conservation, as they support a huge variety of other species with their activity.
Without further ado, here are my ideas for five ecosystem engineering animals in the game:
American beaver: This is perhaps the archetypal example of an ecosystem engineer - they cut down trees and dam rivers, creating flooded woodlands and still water that increase the numbers of invertebrates, amphibians, fish, breeding birds and bats. They would add another diving species to the game and are a fairly regular species in captivity.
European badger: Badgers dig among the largest burrow systems of any animal which can be so big that they can accommodate several other species including foxes and raccoon dogs alongside the badgers; they also change what kinds of plants can grow by bringing nutrient-poor soil up from below ground. This would add a new burrowing species to the game, which is one of the most recognisable mustelids and not too uncommon in smaller European zoos.
Red river hog: This African forest pig creates, by rooting through soil and leaf litter with its snout, the perfect patches of cleared ground for rainforest trees to germinate and allow a greater variety of tree species to grow. This is by far the most commonly-kept of the five species listed here to be kept in zoos; they have added advantages of being amenable to mixing with a huge variety of other animals and being one of the most boldly coloured of the wild pigs.
Superb lyrebird: This ecosystem engineering terrestrial songbird benefits not only the environment but people with its behaviour; as they scratch through leaf litter for food, they accelerate its decomposition and reduce fuel loads for wildfires by up to 25%; this species is not kept outside Australia but within Australia there are at least four zoos that keep them.
Exhibit) Arabian spiny tailed lizard: Conservationists now suggest that a way to reduce extinction risk in warming climates is to protect burrow-making species - we already know that animals including beetles, geckos, scorpions and even larks will duck inside the burrows of this vulnerable Middle Eastern lizard to escape the desert's daytime heat; this species is present in captivity.
Foliage in the pack would probably only include a couple of new species:
European elder Sambucus nigra: A common European small tree/shrub that is particularly abundant around the setts of European badgers
Raffia palm Raphia palma-pinus: A West African palm tree that is among the plants that benefits most from the rooting behaviour of the red river hog
However, there would be some additional options for plants already in game. For example, there could be a stump, fallen trunk and regrowing stump of the quaking aspen (allowing a more natural-looking beaver display) or umbrella thorn acacias that have either been bark-stripped or totally felled to represent elephant damage. Because several ecosystem engineers already in-game (aardvark, pangolin) or in this pack (badger) are burrowers, some tree roots that can be 'hung' on walls or earth banks could help with subterranean themed areas.
Further decorations could include things like sand or soil spoil heaps, which could make habitats for burrowing animals feel more realistic, an artificial dam and lodge for the beavers (most zoos I know of simply build these themselves, rather than letting the beavers trash their enclosure) and a broken-branch nest that can be hung in trees, which could add realism for the Formosan black bear (whose ecosystem engineering behaviour is opening gaps in the canopy by building feeding platforms) and also for the great apes that also build nests.
I would also use this as an opportunity to give burrowing animations to both the aardvark and the Chinese pangolin.
