Defying Trophic Levels

Urchin eating baby cormorant bird.
You might have gotten this email too, but just in case I wanted to share this strange phenomenon.  In ecology we often look at a fixed trophic structure or even a complicated food web.  I think this proves that the food web is more dynamic than we realize.  Urchins have a pretty adaptable diet. Maybe birds are not a preference, but I'm sure this meal was nutritious!  (It still gives me the creeps though.)

 Check out the article for video proof:
http://deepseanews.com/2014/05/anemone-consumes-a-baby-seabird/

This is a link to the paper recently published from a study in oregon:  http://www.marineornithology.org/PDF/42_1/42_1_1-2.pdf

"How Wolves Change Rivers"

This short video is absolutely amazing and explains the massive impacts a single predatory species is capable of having on an ecosystem.