Review of Wolves and the Ecology of Fear: Can Predation Risk Structure Ecosystems?

In this article, authors William Ripple and Robert Beschta focus on predation, how it affects biodiversity, and how it changes ecosystems. While many other studies emphasize the fatal effects of predators predation, the authors of this study will examine how non-fatal outcomes of predation affect ecological structure and function I chose to focus. The authors present two main goals of their research. First, it provides a simple synthesis that includes potential ecosystem responses to predator risk in large predators, ungulates and tertiary nutrition cascades of vegetation. Studies on wolves, elk, woody

In this case, the cognitive and emotional aspects of avoiding predation remain unknown, as almost all studies on "fear ecology" (58, 61). Many authors hypothesize implicitly or explicitly that the impact of risk is regulated by stress and fear and the term "predator pressure" is synonymous with "predator risk" Yes (62, 63). The way it is produced. Mechanism without stress reaction. We could not find that long-term GC reaction does not prove that elk is not afraid of wolves. For the same reason, a moose demonstration to avoid wolves does not necessarily mean that fear drives reactions. Women of many species avoid low-quality spouses, but are they afraid of them? Vegetarians avoid eating meat, but are they afraid?

This is a typical example of the general theory of community and food web ecology - nutrition cascade. The story is this: Top carnivores (wolves in this case) feed on herbivores (euro) and control the size of their population. Herbivores eat plants, and plants are better when herbivores are controlled by predation. When higher carnivores are removed, the number of herbivorous animals increases, plant consumption increases, and the whole plants deteriorate. I will return to our story. In 1995, several miracles occurred at Yellowstone. Park biologist will reintroduce some wolves and there will be enough interest and political will to introduce more wolves next year (you will find more background articles in this book can do). Wolves soon settled in the northern region, their population increased. They predate a large elk and the number of elk are decreasing (other factors contribute as people hunt elk outside the park boundaries)