eat other carnivores). This effect, called mesopredator release, occurs in terrestrial and marine ecosystems; for instance, in North America, the ranges of all apex carnivores have contracted whereas those of 60% of mesopredators have grown in the past two centuries.

Conservation

Because apex predators have powerful effects on other predators, herbivores, and plants, they can be important in nature conservation. Humans have hunted many apex predators close to extinction, but in some

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