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In a complex ecological web, scientists have discovered a direct link between nonnative palm trees and a declining manta ray population.

Researchers of differing disciplines working on the remote Pacific island of Palmyra Atoll put their heads together to work through why the local manta ray population was in decline.

They determined that the planting of nonnative palm trees caused fewer birds to roost in certain areas of the island. Without roosting birds, the soil in those areas lacked the same nutrients previously gained from bird poop. The run-off of this soil into the ocean was in turn lowering plankton levels, which depends on nutrient-rich run-off. Finally, less plankton led to less manta rays, who feed on plankton.

 "This is an incredible cascade," said researcher Rodolfo Dirzo, of Stanford University, "as an ecologist, I am worried about the extinction of ecological processes."

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