Algorithms can predict what movies or songs you might like, but they can also predict which species a predator would most likely eat.
Researchers at Flinders University’s Global Ecology Laboratory have been using machine learning to identify species interactions and can predict which species are most likely to go extinct, so that intervention can be planned before this happens.
“The planet is facing an environmental crisis, with climate change, invasive species, habitat loss, and other human-related activities causing a multitude of extinctions,” says Dr John Llewelyn, Research Fellow at Flinders University’s College of Science and Engineering.
“Many of these extinctions are mediated by species interactions, triggered by the loss or gain of interactions with other species, and we have found that machine learning can predict who eats whom in a world of connected species.”
Read more at Flinders University
Image: A wedge-tailed eagle finds its prey. (Image: Rick Dawson via Flinders University)