How Wolves Change Rivers-a Story of Interdependence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q

This is story about the interdependence of the web of life and keystone species. A keystone species is a species that is essential for maintaining the diversity of life in an ecosystem. Remove a keystone species and the ecosystem falls apart. The classic example is wolves in Yellowstone National Park. Wolves here were hunted to extinction in 1926. Elk, moose and deer populations rapidly increased resulting in the loss of aspens, cottonwoods, berries and various grasses. Because of the loss of vegetation, bird populations plummeted, beavers lost their food, and without their dams rivers became clogged devastating a wide variety of water animals and fish. Meanwhile coyotes became plentiful, devouring small mammals, thus starving badgers, foxes, eagles, hawks and falcons, resulting in severe ecological degradation.

In 1995–6, wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone. In a visually stunning four minute video titled How Wolves Change Rivers, naturalist George Monbiot explains how the wolves restored the original ecosystem. As the deer, moose and elk moved to avoid the wolves, the original vegetation quickly began to regenerate and forests sprang up. With the coming of the forests, a wide variety of songbirds moved in along with beavers. The beavers’ dams provided homes for otters, muskrats, fish and reptiles. The wolves killed coyotes leading to an increase in rabbits and mice which in turn supported hawks, eagles, weasels, foxes, birds of prey, etc. As the wolves’ carrion increased and the berries returned, so did the bear population. Finally the regrown forests stabilized erosion and the river banks. And that is how the wolves changed the rivers in Yellowstone.

This is a perfect example of the self-organizing principle of the universe as it has evolved in the creation of life on planet earth.