This video mentions something really important.
It’s called the ecology of fear hypothesis.
In this hypothesis, fear plays the vital role. If a prey animal has to be afraid of a predator in a certain area, its behavior will change.
This is perhaps best described in study that examined the role coyotes play in keeping domestic cats out of areas where birds nest. Coyotes do kill cats, and when cats figure out that coyotes might be stalking in the brush, they avoid the brush. Because they avoid the brush, the birds can nest in the brush and not be eaten by cats. The birds are able to nest and produce offspring– only because they are afraid coyotes might be stalking in the exact same area where birds like to nest.
In Yellowstone, elk browse on aspen, willows, and cottonwood less when they have to worry about wolves. The aspen forests have started to regenerate, which is great news for riparian areas. These improved riparian areas are good for a wide range of wildlife. Beavers return to eat the willows. They make ponds, which are good for lots of other wildlife, and the trees are great for songbirds.
So ecosystems benefit because wolves scare the hell out of elk.
Of course, they also protect the trees through taking a certain number of elk every year, but it is through this ecology of fear that the really protect the trees from the browsing elk.
The ecology of fear hypothesis is an important part of William Stoltenburg’s Where the Wild Things Were, which is one of the best accounts of what scientists currently know about the role of predators in the ecosystem.
Predators do play a role in ecosystems.
And they don’t just do it through killing prey species.
They also do it by making the prey species fear predation.
And that fear has real ecological ramifications.
And in the face of such successes we still we have wolf culls like that in Nolo, ID “to protect the elk herd.” The idea is to cull the local wolves down to 20 or 30 individuals, so as to build up the local elk herd. 20 to 30 doesn’t sound like a much of a gene pool to me.
Stupidity everywhere.
“There is more stupidity than hydrogen in the universe, and it has a longer shelf life.”
― Frank Zappa
Nice blog this one.
I have raised the issue of important role that top predators play in ecology in many forums. My problem comes from hunters (especially from Idaho and Wyoming), who believe that wolves are the main reason for reduction in Elk populations. They never cite any scientific research or a book to support their argument. There basic point is that people like Stoltenburg, David Suzuki, and rest of us have a hidden agenda (basically making money through donations). They reject all scientific evidence and research work, although it is conservationist like us who believe that some hunters, who maintain game reserves and support government in maintaining reserves, do play an important role in safeguarding our valuable flora and fauna.
The cull in Nolo, ID is also said to be in response to pressure from hunters. I think the best tool in these instances is education. If they hear it enough times, in enough different contexts, it’ll click with them. If we can successfully make the case that apex predators like wolves actually improve the sport and hunting habitat, then enlightened self-interest will take care of the rest. These folks aren’t dumb, just a tad single-minded.
My personal take is that the hunters can be classified into two groups – the hunting conservatives and the hunting fashion forwards. It is this latter group that is difficult to educate. National Geographic had covered in an article published sometimes in 2007 how hunters are actually supporting conservation through both funding and better game management. I believe NG was referring to ‘hunting conservatives’. Otoh, there is no stopping the ‘hunting fashion forwards’. Therefore, it is not uncommon to see a group of Narwahl hunting first nation people to be selectively taking migrating Narwahls in northern Canada with this one young lad with his rifle standing by himself taking indiscriminate shots at all of those beautiful beings swimming by.
Hi Suhail, I agree 100%. The contributions to conservation by organizations like Ducks Unlimited are monumental. And based on my knowledge of hunting–both first and second-hand, most hunters are pretty responsible, forward-looking people. But even among the best of them you find the goof-balls, prone to buckfever and a shoot-anything-that-moves mentality. That’s why I was always impressed w/ the gun safety/hunting safety approach of state DNR’s like that in WI (where I hunted.) (I’ve often felt that a similar approach would be a good idea for issuing driving and marriage licenses as well. LOL)
Education and more education is the key. And while it would be nice to think that an appeal to a tree-hugger kind of sensitivity would be sufficient, I think the most effective way to do so is to appeal to enlightened self-interest. This approach has certainly been effective in those places in tropical America and Africa where its been instituted w/ native tribal groups and I suspect North American hunters would be no less susceptible to the approach.
“And while it would be nice to think that an appeal to a tree-hugger kind of sensitivity would be sufficient, I think the most effective way to do so is to appeal to enlightened self-interest.”
Very well said. I agree this is the best approach.
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