Yellowstone Wolves

A video in which I had particular interest in was about Yellowstone National Park and the dysfunctional ecosystem. Prior to watching the video in class, I assumed that Yellowstone was in perfect condition because it was protected land. Never once did I consider the consequences of an event of something that happened more than half a century ago. 

                While we have learned about many interesting things this month, I was most drawn to what was occurring at Yellowstone. I was so hooked by the documentary, particularly because I love nature so much. When I was in 7^th grade, I traveled to Alaska and visited Denali National Park. There were so many wild animals and I believed that everything was fine. However, after watching this documentary, I started to wonder if maybe under the surface things were not as good as many people thought initially. If this is the case, I would like to get more insight into the problem at Yellowstone in the hopes that it could help prevent any problems from occurring at Denali.I would think it would be a shame if the ecosystem in Alaska was just as dysfunctional as the one in Yellowstone. 

                I was very curious to see how the wolves are affecting the ecosystem at Yellowstone today, as the video is around nine years old. What I found was quite different than what I would have expected. A journalist at Popular Science has investigated the wolves and the ecosystem many times before. Yet, when she recently looked at how things were developing, she found that the willows are not recovering as was expected. She has a possible hypothesis that “the wolves don’t actually scare elk away from their preferred feeding areas, as earlier research suggested they might…when elk are hungry, they’re going to take their chances with the wolves” (Gertz 2014). I was quite shocked at this study. It seemed as though the ecosystem would resume to its ways before the 1930’s. However, newer evidence throws out that idea. Marris also touched on another interesting point. She mentions that the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone might have occurred too late. The documentary also touched on the beavers that built their dams in their marshy habitat. When the elks remained superior, “the beaver numbers dropped, and so did the extent of marshy habitat (Gertz 2014). All in all, I was very surprised. I had assumed right after class that with the reintroduction of wolves that everything would be fine. However, it seems that every little action has a consequence that does not show itself until the long run. 

                I believe that there is much more to learn about this topic. However, I would like to wait for around ten more years to see how the ecosystem has progressed. It seems to me that it takes a little while to see progress occurring. Therefore, with time, it should be evident of the effects of the reintroduction of wolves in the long run. 

Gertz, E. (2014, March 14). Has The Reintroduction Of Wolves Really Saved Yellowstone? Retrieved December 17, 2014, from http://www.popsci.com/article/science/have-wolves-really-saved-yellowstone