Essay Sample on Rewilding the Anthropocene: Lesson from the Wolves of Yellowstone National Park

Introduction & Background

The loss of a species has a cascading effect throughout an ecosystem through the interconnected web of ecological interactions, often channeling ecological degradation, population decline, and even species extinction. Ecosystems provide crucial services essential in the persistence of life on earth. Nonetheless, species extinctions of the Anthropocene are occurring at an unprecedented rate. The rise in human-wildlife conflicts, unyielding environmental degradation, and intensifying climate change are consequences of an unsustainable, booming human population at the expense of ecosystems.

Restoring the interactions once facilitated by an extinct or extirpated species will catalyze an ecological succession in which closely or fully restores the former ecology that sustained a productive and resilient ecosystem. An increasingly popular trend in restoration biology coined as “rewilding” is just that; returning extirpated species or extant analogues to reinstate principal lost ecological functions.

Yellowstone National Park

The most renown example of rewilding would be the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park. In the mid 1920s, intensive hunting extirpated grey wolves from Yellowstone national park. With the absence of their most prominent predator, large herbivores such as elk began to rise in numbers and have a significant toll on the park’s vegetation subsequently shifting woodland into open habitat. To control the over abundant game species and reduce pressure on woody vegetation and trees, hunting and trapping methods were utilized to remove surplus animals. Although with time the park’s ruminant population declined, the vegetation managed regenerate extraordinarily little. Still put to blame, the grazing animal populations were still subject to intense hunting; elk populations nearly plummeting 75% before 1970. 

In the winter of 1995 and 1996, grey wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone national park. although wolves influenced herbivore populations, it was not the most significant impact their introduction had on the park’s ecosystem. The behaviour of the cervids significantly altered in response to the presence of wolves by avoiding areas of the park where predation risks are high, where they could be easily seen or trapped, as well as reducing their overall time spent in an area. The vegetation in these areas began to recover, with willow and poplar densities recovering significantly in the valleys and riparian regions of the park. The wolves triggered a tri-trophic cascade, the wolf’s effect on large herbivores behavior, was responsible for the change occurring in the parks plant communities.

As time passed, the wolves' influences began to cultivate, and continued a succession of amending interactions and trophic cascades within the ecosystem. Wolves killed coyotes either as predation or conflict, relieving predation pressures on small mammals. This was then followed by a rise in small predators such as mustelids, and foxes, as well as raptorial birds who could be supported by the abundance of prey. Scavenging species also benefited from the increase of carrion created by wolf kills, especially the bears. The upturn in fruits and nuts from the revitalized woody growth contributed to the increase in bears, birds, and small mammals in the park.

The recovering stands of cottonwoods, aspen and willows was followed with growing populations of songbirds and migratory species in which benefited from the habitat. The upturn in fruits and nuts from the revitalized woody growth contributed to the increase in bears, birds, and small mammals in the park. Beaver numbers raised in the park, as willow and poplar make the staple of their diet. As ecosystem engineers, the beavers created damns and channels, creating wetlands and ponds form of that provided essential habitat and nurseries for fish, amphibians, waterbirds, and otters. 

The changes in the park went beyond its biota. The wolves changed the landscape, particularly the rivers. The increase in riparian trees and vegetation in the valleys stabilized the banks of rivers, and pools were able to form. The reduced erosion meant waterways became deeper and narrower and rivers upheld their course; lessening the rate in which they meandered. Similarly, the increase in plants stabilized terrain in the park, which diminished the rate of weathering and soil erosion.

Conclusion

Yellowstone Park is a strong example of what consequences occur when human actions remove a species from an ecosystem, but also how the return of that species can restore ecological networks even after several decades of absence. Utilizing the top-down effect key species have in an ecosystem is an effective and valuable tool in restoring ecology and diversity, in which can be shown by the case of Yellowstone National Park. In addition, several other successful rewilding projects and proposed future implementation in damaged ecosystems show promise in restoring ecosystems worldwide.