Wolves
Clayton Hull-Crew wrote an editorial on the US-Represented website reflecting on the reintroduction of wolves into the Yellowstone National Park. Hull-Crew states that the wolves have been responsible for a major ecological shift beginning at the top of the food chain, slowly making its way to the bottom, effecting everything from beaver dams to river bed erosion. Hull-Crew claims that the wolves have created what is called a “Trophic Cascade” of events. A Trophic cascade is, “an ecological phenomenon triggered by the addition or removal of top predators and involving reciprocal changes in the relative populations of predator and prey through a food chain, which often results in dramatic changes in ecosystem structure and nutrient cycling. …show more content…
Because of the absence of the wolves, the elk and deer had multiplied into very large numbers of populations. Therefore, the wolves had endless food accessibility. The wolves promptly hunted the elk and deer causing a widespread movement among the herds. Those elk and deer started to move more north, out of their normal habitat, where they were hunting and where they had been over-grazing. Overtime those areas of the park began to regenerate, particularly in the valley and gorges, and that was just the beginning. See, Elk and Deer primarily graze upon Aspen, Willow and Cottonwood trees and the Yellowstone Park has large numbers these particular trees. The Aspen and Willow, specifically, began to see new growth and likewise the grass and brush. William J. Ripple and Robert L. Beschta with the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR stated, “As of 2010, mean aspen heights had increased for all site categories to a mean of 176 cm for uplands without logs, 224 cm for uplands with logs, 237 cm for riparian areas without logs, and 350 cm for riparian areas with logs” (Ripple, W.J., Beschta, R.L. Trophic cascades in Yellowstone: The first 15 years after wolf reintroduction. Biol. Conserv. (2011), doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2011.11.005). In many locations, the heights of the trees quintupled! The change has been great, however, would …show more content…
Clayton Hull-Crew stated, “When one animal is removed, specifically a powerful player in its ecosystem, not only does their niche become available, but many others collapse. Every spot occupied in a system relies on every other. Waterfowl rely on frogs and tadpoles for food, those frogs spawn in still waters provided by beavers, and beavers rely on flora to eat and use as building materials. That fits the usual bottom-up model of ecosystems, but who protects the flora for beavers? In this case, it turned out to be wolves.” Before the reintroduction of the wolves, there was only 1 beaver colony. Today there are around 9-12 beaver colonies (Staff at the Yellowstone Park. “Wolf Reintroduction Changes Ecosystem” June 21, 2011 Web http://www.yellowstonepark.com/2011/06/wolf-reintroduction-changes-ecosystem/). The grounds that was effected from the wolves, was greatly effected in many different ways. One way was because the trees were able to replenish, this provided needed shade for other plants and grass to grow as well. This effected the erosion of the river beds and thus helped create a stronger environment for the beavers and helped the water sources stabilize. Birds found new places to hide, causing the bird population to increase steadily. Not only because of the flourishing of the landscape, but the carcasses of animals, hunted by
Clayton Hull-Crew wrote an editorial on the US-Represented website reflecting on the reintroduction of wolves into the Yellowstone National Park. Hull-Crew states that the wolves have been responsible for a major ecological shift beginning at the top of the food chain, slowly making its way to the bottom, effecting everything from beaver dams to river bed erosion. Hull-Crew claims that the wolves have created what is called a “Trophic Cascade” of events. A Trophic cascade is, “an ecological phenomenon triggered by the addition or removal of top predators and involving reciprocal changes in the relative populations of predator and prey through a food chain, which often results in dramatic changes in ecosystem structure and nutrient cycling. …show more content…
Because of the absence of the wolves, the elk and deer had multiplied into very large numbers of populations. Therefore, the wolves had endless food accessibility. The wolves promptly hunted the elk and deer causing a widespread movement among the herds. Those elk and deer started to move more north, out of their normal habitat, where they were hunting and where they had been over-grazing. Overtime those areas of the park began to regenerate, particularly in the valley and gorges, and that was just the beginning. See, Elk and Deer primarily graze upon Aspen, Willow and Cottonwood trees and the Yellowstone Park has large numbers these particular trees. The Aspen and Willow, specifically, began to see new growth and likewise the grass and brush. William J. Ripple and Robert L. Beschta with the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR stated, “As of 2010, mean aspen heights had increased for all site categories to a mean of 176 cm for uplands without logs, 224 cm for uplands with logs, 237 cm for riparian areas without logs, and 350 cm for riparian areas with logs” (Ripple, W.J., Beschta, R.L. Trophic cascades in Yellowstone: The first 15 years after wolf reintroduction. Biol. Conserv. (2011), doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2011.11.005). In many locations, the heights of the trees quintupled! The change has been great, however, would …show more content…
Clayton Hull-Crew stated, “When one animal is removed, specifically a powerful player in its ecosystem, not only does their niche become available, but many others collapse. Every spot occupied in a system relies on every other. Waterfowl rely on frogs and tadpoles for food, those frogs spawn in still waters provided by beavers, and beavers rely on flora to eat and use as building materials. That fits the usual bottom-up model of ecosystems, but who protects the flora for beavers? In this case, it turned out to be wolves.” Before the reintroduction of the wolves, there was only 1 beaver colony. Today there are around 9-12 beaver colonies (Staff at the Yellowstone Park. “Wolf Reintroduction Changes Ecosystem” June 21, 2011 Web http://www.yellowstonepark.com/2011/06/wolf-reintroduction-changes-ecosystem/). The grounds that was effected from the wolves, was greatly effected in many different ways. One way was because the trees were able to replenish, this provided needed shade for other plants and grass to grow as well. This effected the erosion of the river beds and thus helped create a stronger environment for the beavers and helped the water sources stabilize. Birds found new places to hide, causing the bird population to increase steadily. Not only because of the flourishing of the landscape, but the carcasses of animals, hunted by