As species recover, some threaten others in more dire shape
GLEN ARBOR, Mich. — In a forest near Lake Michigan, two scientists attached a backpack tracking device to a merlin they'd lured into a net. The mission: help prevent the predatory species from gobbling up piping plovers — highly endangered shorebirds that nest nearby.
Merlins themselves were going downhill decades ago but are recovering, thanks to bans on pesticides such as DDT. That's good for them — but not for plovers in the Great Lakes region, where only 65 to 70 pairs remain. The small falcons are "are a big threat to their recovery," said Nathan Cooper, a research ecologist with Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.
The situation is ironic. A troubled species rebounds thanks to restoration efforts, only to make things worse for others in peril by preying on them or outcompeting them for food and living space. Similar circumstances have turned up
