Living with wolves
WOLVES MAINTAIN HEALTHY ECOSYSTEMS
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Losing wolves from an ecosystem affects all of the other species and even the physical landscape within the area, and often causes a loss of biodiversity. When wolves have been reintroduced, they help to restore the ecosystem to its original health by causing trophic cascades - a chain-reaction or domino style series of changes in the populations of predators, herbivores and plants in the ecosystem. These effects have been particularly well studied in Yellowstone National Park, but similar cascades are likely wherever wolves re-enter the ecosystem.
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Hover over any of the icons in the diagram below to learn about some of the ways in which the reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone benefits the entire ecosystem:
ecosystem:
An ecosystem is made up of all of the living things in an area, the environment around them, and the interactions between them.
ecosystem:
An ecosystem is made up of all of the living things in an area, the environment around them, and the interactions between them.
biodiversity:
The variety of living things in an area - high levels of biodiversity are vital in conservation.
Where wolves have spread or been reintroduced, they reduce the populations of prey species such as deer or elk, which may have greatly increased in their absence. By targeting the oldest or sickest members of the herd, wolves make the whole population healthier and decrease overgrazing problems.
With fewer grazers - and those that remain spending less time in valley bottoms where they make easy targets for wolves - vegetation such as aspen and willow trees can return to the banks of rivers and other sites where it was previously overgrazed.
Root systems of new trees help to stabilise the soil around river banks and change the course of meandering rivers, reducing soil erosion. Beaver damming also helps to create deep, still pools of water.
Wolves will reduce large populations of coyotes that have arisen in their absence.
Fewer coyotes and more vegetaion allows populations of smaller mammals such as hares to thrive.
Livestock kills by coyotes, mountain lions and feral dogs are reduced as their populations shrink when wolves outcompete them for prey.
The cooler, deeper sections of rivers make ideal breeding grounds for fish such as trout. Beaver pools also make good habitat for waterfowl, amphibians and reptiles.
Scavengers such as ravens and bears can feed off carcasses left by wolves.
The new trees can provide more nesting and roosting sites for birds.
Wolves are a keystone species in an ecosystem, meaning that their presence in the environment has knock-on effects on all of the other species present and even the habitat itself. When keystone species are removed, ecosystem diversity and functions are often lost.
Rodents and other small mammals provide prey for other predators including badgers, foxes and birds of prey.
New trees provide more food for beavers and other freshwater mammals such as otters, and are a source of materials for dam building.
Healthy ecosystems are better at providing services useful to humans, such as water purification, storing carbon dioxide in the soil, or maintaining robust wild fish stocks for recreational use.
WOLVES INCREASE AN AREA'S INCOME
Ecosystem services provided by wolves can have direct monetary benefits in the region e.g. increased income from sport fishing. Wolves may also release local landowners from the costs of management - for example in Scotland, it is predicted that reintroducing the wolf would prevent estate owners from having to carry out expensive culling of deer to reduce populations to a less damaging level.
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Tourism related to the reintroduction of the red wolf to North Carolina is also predicted to increase visitor spending by at least $105.83 million in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park region. Knock-on effects on this new income could be as much as £291.51 million per year.
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The boost to local economy from tourism that wolves can provide has been found to be significantly greater than potential costs of wolves through depredation of livestock or reduced trophy hunting of species on which wolves prey.
As well as contributing to ecosystem services, the presence of wolves can increase local revenue from tourism. A survey of thousands of visitors to Yellowstone National Park concluded that visitors from outside Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho that had travelled to the park specifically to see or hear wolves in the wild spent $35.5 annually. In addition, 44% of all visitors to the park listed wolves as a species they would most like to see on their trip. Cycling of this money through the region economy eventually lead to an increase of $70 million annually.
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WOLVES HAVE A RIGHT TO BE HERE
Many people believe that wolves have a right to exist in landscapes where they were previously widespread before eradication by humans. They are a highly charismatic species, and are considered valuable by many regardless of their direct economic benefits. A sense of duty to the natural world and a desire to preserve wolves for future generations to experience are both strong motivations for individuals to support their reintroduction.
RECOMMENDED:
Kroeger, Timm. (1998). Social and Ecological Benefits of Restored Wolf Populations.
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OTHER:
Ripple, W., & Beschta, R. (2012). Trophic cascades in Yellowstone: The first 15 years after wolf reintroduction. Biological Conservation, 145(1), 205-213. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2011.11.005
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Wilmers, C., Crabtree, R., Smith, D., Murphy, K., & Getz, W. (2003). Trophic facilitation by introduced top predators: grey wolf subsidies to scavengers in Yellowstone National Park. Journal Of Animal Ecology, 72(6), 909-916. http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2656.2003.00766.x
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Nilsen, E., Milner-Gulland, E., Schofield, L., Mysterud, A., Stenseth, N., & Coulson, T. (2007). Wolf reintroduction to Scotland: public attitudes and consequences for red deer management. Proceedings Of The Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 274(1612), 995-1003. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.0369