Trophic Cascades
Platform changes cascade through business ecosystems.
Trophic cascades are inevitable. The question isn't whether they'll happen - it's whether you'll detect them early enough to adapt.
Trophic cascades are effects that propagate through multiple levels of an ecosystem. Salmon → predators → nutrient dispersal → tree growth → forest canopy → understory shade → berry abundance → small mammal populations → predator diversity. One species removal collapses multiple dependent relationships.
In Yellowstone, wolf removal cascaded: wolves extirpated → elk exploded → willows overgrazed → beavers disappeared → wetlands dried → songbirds collapsed. Wolf reintroduction reversed the cascade within a decade.
Business Application of Trophic Cascades
Platform changes cascade through business ecosystems. Apple's App Tracking Transparency policy (2021) cascaded: Apple policy → Facebook ad effectiveness drops 30-50% → ad revenue declines billions → CPMs drop → identity graph companies collapse. One policy change, four-level cascade, billions in value destruction.
Trophic Cascades Appears in 4 Chapters
Salmon transport ocean nutrients into forests through predator-mediated dispersal, demonstrating how trophic cascades connect seemingly unrelated ecosystem components.
Nutrient cascades through ecosystems →Trophic cascades define keystone species - organisms whose removal triggers indirect effects propagating across multiple trophic levels with counterintuitive results.
Keystone species and cascade dynamics →The Yellowstone wolf cascade operated through behavioral shifts in network topology - elk spatial distribution changed, not just population density.
Behavioral cascades in network topology →Predator-prey cascades demonstrate that interactions have system-wide impacts beyond immediate participants, affecting community structure and even physical environment.
Cascade effects in predator-prey dynamics →