Wildlife at the Watering Hole - October 2026 - Rhys Cairncross

Matters of life and death: How scavenging and predation structure ecosystems

Rhys Cairncross

Our understanding of food webs has typically focused on predation as crucial for energy and nutrient transfer to higher levels of food webs. However, this discounts the importance of animal scavenging activity. In fact, significantly more energy may be contributed to food webs from scavenging than from predation, with scavenging activity far more widespread and common among animals than previously recognised. In this talk, I explore how scavenging and predation link across ecosystems, how this helps to structure ecological processes and the important conservation implications this has.

Meet our speaker:

Rhys is an ecologist with a particular interest in community and conservation ecology. He is currently completing a PhD at the University of Sydney, while also working as a research associate at the University of Technology Sydney and as a consultant ecologist. His work spans a range of species from plants to apex predators, but he particularly loves reptiles and amphibians. 

His instagram handle is @rhyscanx, and LinkedIn account is Rhys Cairncross.