Rewilding: Replacing our silent spring with a raucous summer

[MikeH]

A fascinating talk by George Mobiot talking about shifting baseline syndrome and trophic cascade. Inspired by his new book Feral. Raucous Summer - www.penguin.ca/static/pdf/previews/feral-excerpt.pdf

[raymondo]

Thanks for that link Mike. I found it expanded my take on conservation.

[MikeH]

Yeh, I'm a big believer in letting Nature what she does with me sticking my fingers in as little as possible but I was blown away by what he was saying. I'd never heard of trophic cascade.  He's talking about the positive scenario. There's also a negative scenario which is far more common.

I've struggled with the concept of shifting baseline syndrome even though I'd never heard the phrase.  Our woods are basically the result of commercial agriculture ceasing about 50 years ago.  They seem pretty barren so we thought about trying to restore them.  Restore them to what?  I don't know. So we've said screw it, let's introduce as many local-ish native species as we can, especially those that have some direct benefit to us. 

The graphics of what Monbiot is talking about in Yellowstone are even more striking than his words.

Attachments:

[Joseph Lofthouse]

Jun 10, 2013 21:59:19 GMT -5 MikeH said:

A fascinating talk by George Mobiot

Very nice. It certainly gave me food for thought next time I get into an "invasive species" discussion.

[steev]

Excellent production. As much as I bitch about the negative impacts other creatures have on what I try to do, I am mostly pleased by their existence and presence, and don't resent their drive to survive.

[12540dumont]

With the exception of bureaucrats....I resent their intrusion.

[steev]

As well you should; they contribute little of value to the ecosystem. They don't even seem to want to die in the fields, as beneficial as that might be.

[MikeH]

The Wolves ate the Elk that ate the plants that grew the flowers that fed the bees that made the berries that fed the bears that eat the Elk.

Wolves help preserve berries for imperiled Yellowstone bears: study

Research published on Monday in the Journal of Animal Ecology suggests Yellowstone wolves may play a pivotal role if threatened grizzlies are to flourish.

Yellowstone grizzlies showed greater quantities of berries in their scat after the wolves' reintroduction, which has thinned and dispersed elk herds and reduced concentrated foraging that can destroy berry bushes, researchers found.

"What is interesting and surprising here is that we have one large predator affecting another large predator," said Oregon State University ecologist William Ripple, the study's lead author.

OUTCRY OVER HUNTING

The report is one of the first to examine the relationship between the roughly 600 grizzlies in the Yellowstone area and the fewer than 100 wolves that frequent the park. There was a public outcry earlier this year after hunters killed a dozen of those wolves. Hunting is illegal in the park but popular in adjacent states.

Ranchers and hunters want to cut the number of wolves and grizzlies, complaining they prey on livestock and elk. Hunting groups like Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation blame wolf reintroduction for reducing elk numbers in Yellowstone's northern herd area by 80 percent, from an estimated 19,000 to less than 4,000, largely through predation.

Chris Wilmers, environmental science professor at the University of California-Santa Cruz who was not involved in the study, said the new findings add to a growing body of work showing how predators impact Yellowstone.

"You never have an eye on the whole ecosystem and how everything is connected until you see it working," Wilmers said.

My bold emphasis.

[steev]

Yes; the damned wolves and grizzlies are preying on the species on which we want to prey; boo-hoo!; competition is a bitch; self-control is a bitch; we must get over it, unless we can control absolutely everything in our environment. Wait! Space colonies are the answer, where we only allow species that are of direct benefit to us; Chicken-Little (medium-fed chicken heart) here we come!

[cletus]

Oh bummer the video is private now. The trophic cascade from wolves in Yellowstone is a great example of autocatalysis. I highly recommend Dr. Robert Ulanowicz books/articles on this subject if you're interested. people.biology.ufl.edu/ulan/pubs/EncyEcol.pdf

[MikeH]

Feb 11, 2014 1:52:25 GMT -5 cletus said:

Oh bummer the video is private now. The trophic cascade from wolves in Yellowstone is a great example of autocatalysis. I highly recommend Dr. Robert Ulanowicz books/articles on this subject if you're interested. people.biology.ufl.edu/ulan/pubs/EncyEcol.pdf

I found a public version.