Summary Of Trophic Cascades In A Great Lakes Forest

Wolves have always been a symbol of the wild, free in spirit and roamers of the land. These animals are considered majestic and protectors of the wilderness. They have always roamed the western United States, although their population has fluctuated over time. Over the past 10 years wolf reintroduction into Yellowstone National Park has been a controversial topic to those of the United States. As of 1995, wolves have been reintroduced into the park. This has come with some strong opposition and yet has prevailed. The future of the wolf in Yellowstone park is now looking bright, although not certain since there still are those who want them banished again.

The red wolf is listed as endangered under the U. S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) (United States Public Law No. 93-205; United States Code Title 16 Section 1531 et seq.). Wild red wolves inhabiting the north eastern North Carolina (NENC), USA recovery area and a single island propagation site (St. Vincent NWR, Florida) are designated as experimental non-essential populations under Section 10(j) of the ESA. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species lists the red wolf’s status as critically endangered.

The wolves prey on elk , which consume plants. When wolves are not present in the ecosystem , elk have no concern about being preyed on. Therefore, they have time to graze on the surrounding trees and plants. Constantly , the native plants and trees have suffered from the over attention from the elk and their growth has been stunted. Some trees that have had this happen to them are cottonwoods, willows, and aspen trees, when wolves are in the environment. On the other hand, elk are cautious about where they eat. They no longer eat in the open , where wolves are able to hunt them. They find food in the thicker brush too be hidden. The trees in turn , are able to grow back to their original size and

Over the past several years, the gray wolf, native to the Wisconsin area, has been listed federally as an endangered species due to the graphic and horrific treatment they had received during the industrialization periods of America, when they were frowned upon and hated because they are predatory creatures and did, on occasion, attack livestock and pets. Because the government was encouraging the hunting, including bounties for the animals, the wolves were hunted to near extinction. However, now Wisconsin faces a new problem. With the reintroduction of the wolves to the state, and their continued endangered status federally, the population has increased well beyond expectations, reaching what could be considered a problematic state. A

...elk and other browsing animals behave differently when wolves are around. Instead of eating greenery down to the soil, they take a bite or two, look up to check for threats, and keep moving. The greenery can grow tall enough to reproduce.(578)

“Restoring an ecologically complete ecosystem in Yellowstone requires the return of willows--and with them, beavers. There's a clear threshold for ecosystem recovery. Willow stands must be more than 6 feet tall, the scientists found. That height is important, says Marshall. Then willows are beyond the reach of browsing elk, and can serve as seed sources for new young willows. Once willows have returned, beavers will gnaw down a certain number of them to build dams. The dams will further slow stream flow, allowing yet more willows to grow. The results offer new insights on the role of wolf-driven trophic cascades in the Yellowstone ecosystem, says Hobbs. Trophic cascades like that in Yellowstone occur when predators--or the lack thereof--in an ecosystem change the abundance or alter traits of their prey, in turn affecting the next lower trophic level.” ("National Science Foundation", 2013)

We looked first at the relationship between the wolf population and the moose population. From about 1960 to 1970, the wolf population remained fairly consistent at about 20 to 25 wolves. During this time, the moose population grew steadily from 500 to over 1200. The next 10 years saw a doubling of the wolf population to 50. This same 10 years saw a decrease of the moose population from over 1200 to over 800. Then in 1980 began a two year drastic decline in the moose population, which was brought down to 15. For the rest of the decade, the moose population remained quite low at numbers near 20. During the 1980s, the moose population doubled again from around 800 to

Ed Yong makes very valid points on how the wolves of Yellowstone have impacted the overly populated elk herds. He has this to say about the herds; “Today the population stands at just over 6,000 down from 19,000 in the elk’s wolf-free heyday,” (ll57). This might seem like a terrible drop in the elk’s numbers, but it is actually a good thing. Yong tells us, “The large deer had run amok in the wolf-free decades, causing serious damage to the park’s trees,” (ll5-6). So in reality, while there are far less elk now, the trees can start to build back up again.

study was done after the United States Parks Services brought wolfs back into the parks after 70

The state legislature has favored the ranching industry above ecology and continues to do so. Public polls “conducted by Boise State indicate that the overwhelming majority of Idahoans (nearly 70 percent) support wolf restoration” (Laverty, par. 4) and the legislature is seeking to remedy this by re-educating the public with “a balanced view of the impact of wolves on big game species, those sectors of the economy dependent upon sport hunting, livestock, domestic animals, and humans” (State, 3). Furthermore, the “cost of wolf reintroduction will be presented as a part of any public education program including direct and indirect costs” (State, 3).

The authors eventually discuss the Yellowstone experiment and share their research results. They focus on the northern winter range which is a large mountain terrain that mostly occurs within the northeastern area of Yellowstone National Park. Here, the authors took into consideration annual precipitation and even the average depth of snowpacks. After looking to historical data for the northern range of Yellowstone, Ripple and Beschta evaluated recruitment on aspen and cottonwood over the last two centuries and found that the extirpation of wolves allowed elk to browse unimpeded during winter months. After going over data from Yellowstone after wolf

In a time where the environment is experiencing significant change, it is important that certain communities and individuals be informed of what is occurring. This said environmental change can be observed in the way the seasons affect organisms and their habitat, which leads to an impact on their predator-prey relationships. This relationship between the California mountain lion, mule deer, and coyote that live at Wind Wolves preserve is being studied, along with their seasons. These animals can live in separate regions, but do have overlapping territories. Three of which being Twin Fawn, Site 1, and Site 2. Their environment can change how a predator hunts or how a often or long a prey appears at a certain location.

In 1995 the gray wolf (Canis lupus) was reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park. The park had been without resident wolves for 70 years prior, when they were killed off in the 1930’s. This meant that in those 70 years there was no research on the effects of wolves on the park’s ecosystem. In the decades since the reintroduction, research has been able to proceed and has found some amazing results. Not only did the reintroduction of wolves impact animal life, but it also had an impact on plant life. “In the past it was thought that an ecosystem was built from the bottom up... with plant life as the basis from which everything grew. Almost all conservation and reintroduction efforts were based on this idea.” (Mission: Wolf Education vs Extinction)

As a result of habitat fragmentation and extensive hunting pressure, gray wolf (Canis lupus) populations have declined dramatically in Europe and elsewhere during recent centuries. The natural history of European populations of grey wolf (Canis lupus) has been characterized by a dramatic decline in numbers during the past few hundred years (Boitani 2003). Small and fragmented populations have persisted, but often only in the presence of large numbers of dogs, which increase the potential for hybridization and introgression to deleteriously affect wolf populations.

I started to read my second book about wolves called Face to Face With Wolves by Jim and Judy Brandenburg on the 28. In the early 1970s, there were fewer than 1000 gray and red wolves (Brandenburg 21). “Some estimates show more than 5000 wolves in the lower 48 states, include 3000 in Minnesota, and 6000-7000 in Alaska (Brandenburg 21). There were about 15000 wolves worldwide in 57 different countries (Brandenburg 22). There are many studies of wolves happening now but one of the longest study is a wolf-and-prey relationship that is happening at Isle Royale National Park on Lake Superior (Brandenburg 22). They have been studying wolves and moose for 50 years (Brandenburg 22). Ranchers oppose of reintroducing wolves and threatened to shoot them