Wolf Reintroduction To Yellowstone Case Study

Created in 1872 by the department of the Interior, the park was developed by congress for preservation of its "natural curiosities or wonders and prohibiting wanton destruction of its fish and game" (defenders). Wolves were protected in Yellowstone.

area’s native wolf and grizzly bear population. Tourism to the area has also prompted Yellowstone’s Lake Trout problem, believed to

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

While highly controversial, the reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone Park has provided many beneficial ecological changes to the entire parks ecosystem. After a nearly 70 year absence, in January of 1995, 14 wolves from separate packs were captured in the Canadian Rockies and transported to Yellowstone National Park in the states of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho (Sanders par. 2).

...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)

Since the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone they have created an astounding and advantageous trophic cascade. 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. These often result in dramatic changes in ecosystem structure and nutrient cycling. In a three-level food chain, an increase (or decrease) in carnivores causes a decrease (or increase) in herbivores and an increase (or decrease) in primary producers such as plants and phytoplankton according to briticanna (how to make better). The entire ecosystem was able to become whole again because the wolves, a key species, were reintroduced. Now this may seem weird, a predator comes into the area a begins to kill animals, how can this be beneficial in any way? Well the fact of the matter is that it is extremely beneficial. The reason being the problem in Yellowstone was the overpopulation of the elk. These elk had no predators, they were free to roam and reproduce, and they did this very well. Now elk are also a

Since the introduction of the wolves, 300 sheep, 66 cattle, 1 horse, and 20 dogs have been killed by these predators, and to call them anything else would be wrong.

“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)

With the wolves being back in Yellowstone there has been a much larger effect on the ecosystem than on just the elk. Since the saplings

Today was an exciting day, my family and I went on a trip to the Yellowstone National Park! I was shocked at the history of the park. The park has been around for almost 11,000 years. We had to take a plane because it is located almost in all of Wyoming, but does go into Montana and Idaho, so I got to visit three states. It is one of the United States well known parks and visited by millions, including myself. The tour guide was very helpful in giving us information about the park. The earliest visit recorded was back in the 1800s. The people of Montana did not want development of the land that lead to President Ulysses S. Grant to preserve the land and make it a park. The people refused to have mining and logging to destroy their land.

Wolf recovery would be a big step in maintaining wildlife. For instance, in Yellowstone a

I am taking a class called global environmental issues and heard about how reintroduction of wolves has had very positive impact in Yellowstone, but we did not go much deeper than just stating so.

Reforestation will provide food and shelter to birds which rely on trees, shrubs and grass in order to survive and increase its population. Reforestation will not only increase the amount of air produced but will provide high above ground perches to protect the birds. With wolves being reintroduced into the forest the carcasses of the dead animals will decay and will provide nutrients to the soil for new plants to grow and flourish. Thus, the growth of new plants will increase the amount of small animals for the larger growing bird population. With wolves changing deer and elk feeding paths which then results in an increase of riparian vegetation which lowers water temperatures. In which improving habitat conditions for trout, thus creating more food and fishing

I do believe that the wolves in Minnesota should be placed on the endangered species list. Their population has declined for about over the past decade, but fortunately seems to be back on the rise again due to strict laws and regulations. The Endangered Species Act has been a great help to the replenishment of wolves and has kept them safe over the last year and previous years before as well. I believe if we stick to these laws and regulations the wolf population will begin to replenish.

These were all key factors to their near extinction. In 1974 the wolves were placed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), but were not protected for long. Many environmentalist agreed with this act because environmentalist knew how crucial this keystone specie was to the ecosystem. Without the grey wolves existence, the whole rest of the ecosystem would not function properly. Unfortunately, around the 1960s, the gray wolf population was basically extinct, which resulted in a huge controversy. Luckily, “In 1995, the first 14 wolves were introduced to the Yellowstone National Park to increase the wolf population”(Transplanted) that had been decreasing gradually. Over the years more Canadian wolves were introduced to the Yellowstone National park to increase the wolf population. This procedure was successful because the wolf population throughout the Yellowstone region was on the rise. The long term goal for the environmentalists and Yellowstone park rangers would be to have around 1,000 wolves roaming the region.