While on twitter, I ran across a video short on wolves in Yellowstone National Park. This lead to more research on the importance of large predators related to ecosystem health and balance.
I thought I would share some of those resources here.
Here is a brief summary on the topic [excerpted from one of the articles listed
below].
The extirpation of wolves (Canis
lupus) from Yellowstone National Park in the mid-1920s and their reintroduction
in 1995 provided the opportunity to examine the cascading effects of
carnivore-herbivore interactions on woody browse species, as well as ecological
responses involving riparian functions, beaver (Castor canadensis) populations,
and general food webs. Our results indicate that predation risk may have
profound effects on the structure of ecosystems and is an important constituent
of native biodiversity [Ripple and Beschta, 2004, p.755].
Below is the citation for this summary, along with a few other resources for you to explore.
Clearman, T., 2016. Adversity
in Social Evolution: Correlating Wolves in Ecosystems With Shadow in the Human
Psyche.
Licht, Daniel S., et al. "Using small populations of
wolves for ecosystem restoration and stewardship." BioScience, vol. 60,
no. 2, 2010, p. 147+. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/bio.2010.60.2.9 Accessed 26 Oct. 2017.
Peterson, Rolf O., et al. "Looking to the past for the
future: using wolves to restore ecosystems (response to Belant, Mech, and
Trimble)." BioScience, vol. 60, no. 7, 2010, p. 486+. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/bio.2010.60.7.21 Accessed 26 Oct. 2017.
Ripple, William J., and Robert L. Beschta. "Wolves and
the ecology of fear: can predation risk structure ecosystems?" BioScience,
vol. 54, no. 8, 2004, p. 755+. http://ucpressjournals.com/journal.asp?j=bio
