A concept in conservation biology first proposed by conservation biologist Michael Soulé, "rewilding" is a process by which conservationists protect whole ecosystems through the preservation of core areas connected by corridors and in which apex predators are allowed to live unmolested. Predators are a key parameter in this formula because wildlife biologists increasingly recognize the important role apex predators have in the proper function of food chains. Removing predators from ecosystems can cause trophic cascades such as that studied in 1966 by marine biologist Robert Paine. The removal a predatory sea star from an area of Washington State coast allowed mussels to explode in number crowding out other species and creating a monoculture. Since that classic study more corroborating evidence of trophic cascades have been collected by scientists all over the world. Significant and beneficial ecosystem effects in the United States were observed at Yellowstone National Park with the re-introduction of wolves. Yellowstone showed that the removal of a single predator, the wolf, could damage a terrestrial ecosystem in many unanticipated ways. Elk were allowed to browse without the pressure of wolf predation for 75 years. Increased browsing of willows elevated stream temperatures which adversely impacted trout populations. Songbirds and beaver populations were also reduced. Restoring the wolf to the ecosystem reversed these negative trends. Even predators as small as spiders have a downward forcing effect on ecosystems that is as significant as that of plants' bottom-up control.
The recognition of re-wilding as a viable conservation model is one result of a paradigm shift. Previously ecological science was focused on the function of plant life converting solar energy into food for fauna. Of course this function is critical to life on Earth, but the forcing effects of predation are
now studied with new appreciation for their ecological role. Re-wilding America's northern Great Plains is a joint project undertaken by the World Wildlife Fund. Once great bison herds covered the vast open space of America's mid-continent prairies. The buffalo were preyed upon by wolves, cougars and native Americans. Most of animal predators are now gone, as are most of the buffalo. America's Great Plains natural ecology has been replaced by an artificial culture of ranching and farming. But conservationists with local support are attempting to create conditions favorable for reintroduction and flourishing of native species in protected space. The thunder of great buffalo herds may once again be heard on the sea of grass.
The goal of the American Prairie Reserve project is to assemble large-scale private conservancies in northeast Montana that eventually could connect to 2 million acres of public grasslands creating an intact natural preserve dwarfing our largest national park that could support large numbers of bison and associated predators. World Wildlife Fund released 16 bison into the Reserve in 2005, the first to return in 120 years. Bison once numbered 30-60 million, but because of white predation for meat and hides in the 19th century, they no longer fulfill their ecological role in shaping the prairies. Existing protected areas are still too small to allow the remaining 30,000 wild buffalo their full ecological interactions.
Similar circumstancesimpact pronghorn antelope, sage grouse, prairie dog, black-footed ferret, cougar, wolf, and native prairie grass. The northern Great Plains ecosystem spans five American states and two Canadian provinces, but wildlife knows no political boundaries. By establishing well-managed corridors that cross borders, human boundaries can be safely bridged by wildlife and the landscape returned to a heathy biological functioning while creating an unrivaled natural spectacle. This vision of wild America can bring economic benefits to rural communities facing social stagnation and depopulation, as the success of Namibia in increasing both wildlife and ecotourism shows. Restoring America the Beautiful is not an unworkable utopian dream, it is the good future.
A concept in conservation biology first proposed by conservation biologist Michael Soulé, "rewilding" is a process by which conservationists protect whole ecosystems through the preservation of core areas connected by corridors and in which apex predators are allowed to live unmolested. Predators are a key parameter in this formula because wildlife biologists increasingly recognize the important role apex predators have in the proper function of food chains. Removing predators from ecosystems can cause trophic cascades such as that studied in 1966 by marine biologist Robert Paine. The removal a predatory sea star from an area of Washington State coast allowed mussels to explode in number crowding out other species and creating a monoculture. Since that classic study more corroborating evidence of trophic cascades have been collected by scientists all over the world. Significant and beneficial ecosystem effects in the United States were observed at Yellowstone National Park with the re-introduction of wolves. Yellowstone showed that the removal of a single predator, the wolf, could damage a terrestrial ecosystem in many unanticipated ways. Elk were allowed to browse without the pressure of wolf predation for 75 years. Increased browsing of willows elevated stream temperatures which adversely impacted trout populations. Songbirds and beaver populations were also reduced. Restoring the wolf to the ecosystem reversed these negative trends. Even predators as small as spiders have a downward forcing effect on ecosystems that is as significant as that of plants' bottom-up control.
The goal of the American Prairie Reserve project is to assemble large-scale private conservancies in northeast Montana that eventually could connect to 2 million acres of public grasslands creating an intact natural preserve dwarfing our largest national park that could support large numbers of bison and associated predators. World Wildlife Fund released 16 bison into the Reserve in 2005, the first to return in 120 years. Bison once numbered 30-60 million, but because of white predation for meat and hides in the 19th century, they no longer fulfill their ecological role in shaping the prairies. Existing protected areas are still too small to allow the remaining 30,000 wild buffalo their full ecological interactions. Similar circumstancesimpact pronghorn antelope, sage grouse, prairie dog, black-footed ferret, cougar, wolf, and native prairie grass. The northern Great Plains ecosystem spans five American states and two Canadian provinces, but wildlife knows no political boundaries. By establishing well-managed corridors that cross borders, human boundaries can be safely bridged by wildlife and the landscape returned to a heathy biological functioning while creating an unrivaled natural spectacle. This vision of wild America can bring economic benefits to rural communities facing social stagnation and depopulation, as the success of Namibia in increasing both wildlife and ecotourism shows. Restoring America the Beautiful is not an unworkable utopian dream, it is the good future.