Unintended Consequences – How Wolves Change Rivers
Last Updated on Tuesday, 26 May 2015 11:39 Written by Albert Greenhut Monday, 10 March 2014 06:17
I enjoy camping and have been receiving flyers and opinion polls because of my time spent in Yellowstone Park. While there I learned about how the reintroduction of wolves (after a 70 year absence) changed the behavior of the animals and the land. I recently found a video that described the lengths to which the park and its wildlife were affected. In short, the wolves thinned the elk and deer populations, which were over-grazing and that lead to regrowth of vegetation that drew more birds that were followed by small animals. In addition, the elk and deer, due to the wolves, stayed farther away from the rivers, allowing close vegetation for the beavers, which allowed for their increased activity resulting in more dams and an increase in fish, again benefitting the eco-system as a whole. This chain of events was nothing short of remarkable, and is luring me back to the park.
The unintended consequences that were brought on by ridding the park of the wolves and then reintroducing them are fascinating. Humans got a rare chance to witness how our choices affected the landscape and the resulting trophic cascade.
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