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posted by CoolHand on Tuesday September 18 2018, @06:48PM   Printer-friendly
from the circle-of-life dept.

https://yellowstoneinsider.com/2018/09/04/wolves-fewer-elk-yellowstone-aspen-comeback/

But with the reintroduction of wolves, the elk population has gone down significantly — from almost 20,000 in 1995 to around 7,500 in the latest estimates — and during that time scientists have documented a Yellowstone aspen comeback. That’s part of a larger picture of restoring balance to the ecosystem. The aspen already face a variety of challenges from insects and the like.

A 2010 study did not find any impact on aspen with the reintroduction of wolves, but a new study, published in the journal Ecosphere, did. Here’s a synopsis of the study from Oregon State:

This is the first large-scale study to show that aspen is recovering in areas around the park, as well as inside the park boundary, said Luke Painter, a wildlife ecologist at Oregon State University and lead author on the study. Wolves were reintroduced to the park in 1995. The study shows their predation on elk is a major reason for new growth of aspen, a tree that plays an important ecological role in the American West.

Wolves are culling the elk herd, adding to the effects of bears, cougars, and hunters outside the park, which means less elk are browsing on aspen and other woody species. The presence of wolves has also resulted in most of the elk herd spending winter outside of the park, Painter said. Before wolf restoration, even when elk numbers were similarly low, most of the elk stayed in the park.

"What we're seeing in Yellowstone is the emergence of an ecosystem that is more normal for the region and one that will support greater biodiversity," Painter said. "Restoring aspen in northern Yellowstone has been a goal of the National Park Service for decades. Now they've begun to achieve that passively, by having the animals do it for them. It's a restoration success story."….

The study answers the question of whether the return of wolves to Yellowstone could have a cascading effect on ecosystems outside the park, Painter said, where there is much more human activity such as hunting, livestock grazing, and predator control. There has also been skepticism surrounding the extent and significance of aspen recovery, he said.

[Editor's Note: Related - there has been a lot of interest generated in this topic from this TED talk]


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 18 2018, @10:51PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 18 2018, @10:51PM (#736794)

    There is a direction; the equality symbol destroys that.

    If anything, the programmer's idea would be better.

  • (Score: 2) by Immerman on Wednesday September 19 2018, @12:39AM (2 children)

    by Immerman (3985) on Wednesday September 19 2018, @12:39AM (#736847)

    Yes, mathematically equals is nondirectional, so it will destroy the original directional information. But only if you're a mathematician incapable of interpreting it in the much looser sense that it's generally used in conversation.

    And conversationally (and in writing) left-to-right is the default order of interpretation, and equals sign gets implied directionality from that in common usage. E.g. someone saying "Obama presidency = America falls to socialism" is not implying that they think America falling to socialism would lead to an Obama presidency.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 19 2018, @06:11AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 19 2018, @06:11AM (#736929)

      E.g. someone saying "Obama presidency = America falls to socialism" is not implying that they think America falling to socialism would lead to an Obama presidency.

      Well that would be better expressed with a => (read "yields")

      • (Score: 2) by Immerman on Wednesday September 19 2018, @02:41PM

        by Immerman (3985) on Wednesday September 19 2018, @02:41PM (#737047)

        Certainly, but the meaning is clear anyway, and => is not a widely understood symbol. You really want to get the general populace misusing *another* mathematical symbol?