How Wolves Change Rivers

Not too sure of this is shared here on this forum or not, but I found this video very fascinating. Amazing to see a great proof of how interconnected all the living things (and their habitat) are... Watch video

Interesting, Rajan. Don't know how much of it is really true though, sounds incredible that such major changes in an eco system can take place in such a short period. It is beautiful to see though.

Pradeep

Interesting….and quite possible.  If true, this is great news for the Gray Wolf and a huge defeat for those who would again extirpate it from its native range.

I would like to see results of a study or two with that theme, to give the video more credibility.

Robert King
www.itsaboutnature.net

UPDATED comment:

Just googled "trophic cascade" and it sure is real.  The term was not used in wildlife management or habitat management in the years I have been in it, since 1973.  

But it does seem to be very plausible.  Here is the wiki on it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trophic_cascade

As a wildlife biologist, my specialty was and is….habitat management.

I am now reading a book titled "Bringing Nature Home"….by Douglas W. Tallamy.  The theme of this book is that we have so disrupted our natural systems with exotics that we have all but eliminated the native primary herbivores…..our native insects.  And the only way to restore them is to restore our native plants….because that is what they have evolved to eat. They will not eat the exotics that are taking over our lands.

Apparently, we are just now proving that the only way to prevent the inevitable collapse of our terrestrial systems is to restore our native plants and somehow connect the restored pieces or fragments.  I am convinced this is true.  We already know that corridors of suitable habitat are vital to our wildlife.  Most people do not yet realize the degree to which we have damaged our native terrestrial systems.  One of the greatest tenets of healthy wildlife habitat management is that Diversity Equals Stability.  They are directly related.  When we say that diversity equals stability, we are talking about the diversity of NATIVE plants….not EXOTICS.  I believe that we have already reached a critical juncture and the only way out of it is to restore enough pockets of our native plants so that they are able to reconnect and begin to reestablish corridors.  It is such a tall order that it seems almost impossible.  

Right now our terrestrial habitats have become so weakened that exotics are spreading and becoming established, at an increasingly faster rate.

TROPHIC CASCADE:  It is exciting to think that the restoration of a native apex predator (the Gray Wolf here) could take the pressure off a group of native plants by reducing the ungulate population.   

A strong, diverse suite of native plants is the best defense against the weakening effect of exotics.  Eliminating our native insects would be catastrophic to these terrestrial systems.  Think about the fact that most of our native terrestrial birds rear their young on our native insects.  

We must all begin thinking "I want only native plants on my land…….in my yard….on my property."       

Here is another take on the subject: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/10/opini ... .html?_r=1 The way I read the article is that the wolves do play a part but these systems are so complicated, and there are too many variables, to come to such a simplistic theory.

Ted

There was a previous post on the subject here:

http://www.naturescapes.net/forums/view ... 7&t=242272

Interesting how somebody can make a video on the subject from an authoritative viewpoint and still call elk "deer"!

Here's another link:

http://www.pbs.org/program/return-wolves/

Joe

Joe,

They may be from Europe. There Elk are called deer and moose are called Eurasian elk. Then there are stags. I used to have a Norwegian Elkhound and I think they were used to hunt moose. It can be confusing.

Ted

ted1000 wrote:Joe,

They may be from Europe. There Elk are called deer and moose are called Eurasian elk. Then there are stags. I used to have a Norwegian Elkhound and I think they were used to hunt moose. It can be confusing.

Ted

They are in the deer family, but I guess I was just nit-picking, since everyone I know calls them elk, and especially in Yellowstone!

Joe

Joe

I just finished watching the entire first film……narrated by Peter Coyote. A very interesting wildlife documentary. I learned a lot.

Robert

SantaFeJoe wrote:

ted1000 wrote:Joe,

They may be from Europe. There Elk are called deer and moose are called Eurasian elk. Then there are stags. I used to have a Norwegian Elkhound and I think they were used to hunt moose. It can be confusing.

Ted

They are in the deer family, but I guess I was just nit-picking, since everyone I know calls them elk, and especially in Yellowstone!

Joe

The correct name is wapiti (Cervus canadensis) but no one in the US is going to know what you are talking about.

Mike in O wrote:The correct name is wapiti (Cervus canadensis) but no one in the US is going to know what you are talking about.

Or more properly, cervus canadensis nelsoni.

Joe

Argument for arguments sake slows everything down..

What hits me is that man, with all his so called knowledge and technology and money and manpower cannot and did not do what nature did virtually overnight. My point and I think the point of the video is that we will never have the resources to manage wildlife and to think we can is highly deceptive. We can maybe for a short time or in a small way do some good but nature left on it's own is best. Our philosophies on the matter need another look and our land use needs new priorities.

Paul