Cleaning symbiosis is an ecological phenomenon characterized by a mutually beneficial relationship between two species, where one individual (known as the cleaner) removes external parasites, debris, or other unwanted material from the body of the host (referred to as the client). One remarkable example of cleaning symbiosis involves the interaction between birds and capybaras, as shown by the photograph. Capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) are large rodents that inhabit wetlands, such as the Brazilian Pantanal, where they are exposed to numerous ectoparasites, including ticks and lice. In these settings, certain bird species, such as the cattle tyrant (Machetornis rixosa), take on the role of cleaners by landing on the capybara's body, picking the parasites, and consuming them. Interestingly, this cleaning symbiosis is not merely a one-way interaction. Capybaras also play an active role by lying on the ground and exposing their heads, backs, and bellies, thereby allowing the birds easy access to body parts that would not be reached otherwise (Biota Neotrop 2010; https://doi.org/10.1590/S1676-06032010000100028).
In navigating the biodiversity crisis, a major uncertainty is the conservation status of inconspicuous, yet megadiverse and functionally crucial, soil organisms. Massive datasets on soil biota are accumulating through molecular sampling approaches, but to date these datasets have provided only limited input into conservation planning and management. We investigated how environmental DNA (eDNA) data of soil macrofungi contribute to regional Red List assessments, which are currently based on fruiting bodies (hereafter, fruit-bodies). In our test region of Estonia (northern Europe), which contained ~15,000 fruit-body records for 1583 assessed species, an average soil sample increased the range estimates of Threatened and Near Threatened fungal species by 0.18%. Five hundred soil samples almost doubled their known localities and added 19% previously unrecorded species. However, even after accumulating >1000 soil samples, about half of the Threatened and Near Threatened species known by fruit-bodies remained undetected through eDNA techniques. Effective conservation assessment of soil fungi thus requires both fruit-body and eDNA data; therefore, special efforts are needed to make these data available to conservationists.
Supplementary feeding of garden birds and gamebirds is a common practice worldwide. Bird feed is rich in phosphorus (P), which plays a key role in animal health and ecosystem function. However, much of the P in bird feed originates from mined rock deposits, which is then transported thousands of kilometers to feeder stations, where it represents an external source of nutrients for recipient ecosystems. Here, we demonstrate that diffusion of P by birds and other animals from feeder stations to ecosystems can represent a nontrivial contribution to local biogeochemical cycles. Using the UK as a case study, we show that supplementary bird feeding supplies 2.4 (range: 1.9–3.0) gigagrams of P per year across the UK, a flux similar in magnitude to atmospheric deposition. Phosphorus provided to garden birds alone is equal to that supplied through the application of garden fertilizers. In natural and semi-natural ecosystems, additional feeder-derived P inputs may exacerbate eutrophication at the local scale and adversely impact biodiversity.
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