Trophic cascade wolves1/4/2024 ![]() ![]() It talks about Yellowstone without wolves. Only show the first half (0-2:36 minutes) for this webpage activity. The video Wolves of Yellowstone: A New Wild (5:30 minutes) is divided into two parts.Original lesson resource: Activities on this page are adapted from Wolves of Yellowstone Teacher Guide, a free curriculum developed by PBS Learning Media and The Nature Conservancy that you can download.Scientific data indicates specific changes to parts of the ecosystem after wolves were removed. ![]() This change has been called a trophic cascade. After wolves were removed from Yellowstone, the ecosystem changed.Create a visual map of a trophic cascade after wolves were eliminated from Yellowstone, and analyze the supporting data.Describe the history of wolves in Yellowstone before their reintroduction.Supporting evidence includes _.”)ĭriving Question: How did the absence of wolves impact the Yellowstone National Park ecosystem? Write a hypothesis stating what you think might happen to plant and elk populations when wolves return to Yellowstone.Illustrate in a visual map or write a paragraph describing how the elimination of wolves cascades through the ecosystem to affect water sources.Give several examples of how changes to these plants affected different animal species.How were producers (plants) indirectly affected by the elimination of wolves from the Yellowstone ecosystem?.Consider labeling producers, primary consumers/herbivores, secondary consumers/carnivores or omnivores. Draw a visual model of these food chains, including an explanation of how they were a part of this trophic cascade when wolves were eliminated. Search your bubble concept map for examples of food chains.Watch the video segment several times to make sure you catch and record all the connections described.To start your map, write “Wolves removed” in the central bubble, and build out from there. Draw a bubble concept map that shows how removing wolves caused changes to other parts of the ecosystem.Watch the first part of the Video: Wolves of Yellowstone: A New Wild video clip from 0-2:36 minutes.Map out this ripple effect of change that happened through the ecosystem when the food web’s top-predator trophic level was eliminated.Scientists are trying to determine how much of an effect the reintroduction of Yellowstone’s top predator - the wolf - has had on the ecosystem. One possible explanation for these changes is a trophic cascade. However, in the twenty years since the reintroduction of wolves, scientists have noticed many positive changes to the park ecosystem. There were, and still are, many stakeholders involved in the Yellowstone area, each with unique concerns. Reintroduction was not without controversy. In 1995, the park moved forward with a plan to reintroduce wolves to the area. Fish and Wildlife Service to develop an environmental impact statement regarding wolf reintroduction. However, it wasn’t until 1991 that Congress directed the U.S. ![]() In the 1940’s a growing movement of conservationists, environmentalists, biologists, and park officials supported reintroduction of the wolves to Yellowstone. In fact, by the mid-1900’s wolves had been nearly eliminated not just from Yellowstone but from the lower 48 states entirely. ![]() By the 1940’s, wolf packs were seldom reported in the park. Wolves were especially vulnerable because they were seen as an undesirable predatory species.Īt least 136 wolves were killed in the park between 19. In fact, in the early years of the park any visitor could hunt and kill any wild game or predator they encountered. However, while it protected approximately 3,472 square miles of land (2,221,766 acres), it did not protect the gray wolves that lived inside its boundaries. In 1872, the world’s first national park, Yellowstone, was created. Original lesson resource: Activities on this page are adapted from Wolves of Yellowstone Teacher Guide, a free curriculum developed by PBS Learning Media and The Nature Conservancy that you can download. Let’s start by going back in history to figure out when wolves were thriving in Yellowstone, when and why they were eliminated, and the impact that their elimination had on the park ecosystem. Decades of scientific research paint a picture of the wolf’s impact on its ecosystem and people, both during its absence and once it returned. Wolf reintroduction into Yellowstone National Park offers a powerful case study to learn from. Removing a top predator like the wolf can create a chain reaction of effects on other species in the web, referred to as a trophic cascade. Wolves are the top, or apex, predator of their ecosystem because they have no natural predators in their food web. How did the absence of wolves impact the Yellowstone National Park ecosystem? ![]()
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