Preview

Ecosystem and Living Organisms

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
713 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Ecosystem and Living Organisms
Ecosystem and Living Organisms By: Tiepha Bridges University of Phoenix Instructor: Jonathan Neville February 29, 2012

Ecosystem and Living Organisms Gray wolves were once free to roam across Northern America, but this was before people hunted, trapped, and poisoned them. The drastic reduction of the Gray wolves in Northern America was a devastating blow to the ecosystem, but their extinction marked a critical loss to the diversity of the ecosystem. Many scientists agreed that reintroducing the Gray wolves was the best solution to restore the diversity of the ecosystem (Raven, 2009). While this recommendation was adopted some decades later, this scientific method helped improve the situation though with some side effects. Nonetheless, enforcing the endangered species act could also help alleviate the situation by reducing hunting or poising of the Gray wolves. Man’s action in Northern America such as hunting and poising of wolves led to the significant reduction of Gray wolves. These actions led to unintended impact on the ecosystem with many Gray Wolves become extinct in many places. In any ecosystem, the availability of wild life and vegetation contribute to the ecological balance. This was the case of the Gray wolves before people hunted them down and poisoned some of them. With the fall in the number of Gray wolves and extinction in some areas, man’s action, though unintended, had caused a devastation impact on the ecological balance of Northern America. Many scientists agreed the population of Gray wolves to some selected regions in Northern America, such as Yellowstone, could possibly alleviate the problem bring the wolves population back to living throughout the regions. With man’s action contributing to the extinction of Gray Wolves, reintroducing the wolves into the Yellowstone ecosystem offered a solution of increasing the population of the wolves. This

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    As stated earlier, the 2004-2005 survey conducted by the Wisconsin DNR showed that 52 percent of Wisconsin citizens do not support compensation for hounds, yet the money from these citizens is still used to provide compensation to the hunter. The same survey discovered that 81 percent of landowners that live near wolf packs would participate in a program in which they are given a monetary incentive to protect wolves, which would offset the risks they face and compensate them for any potential animal losses. This proves that wolves are not the problem; the problem is how the compensation is funded and handled. During the 2012 Wisconsin wolf hunting season, the compensation for dog depredations was provided through wolf application fees instead of taxpayer dollars. Managing the wolf population not only involves hunting, but also dealing with the consequences and side effects of having a wolf population in the state of Wisconsin. The money that was earned from wolf hunting application fees during 2012 was used directly to compensate hunters for wolves that caused them problems, which was a much more beneficial management…

    • 1259 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Landscape of Fear In “Scared to Death” by Ed Yong, he discusses how the addition of one predator can cause a cascade effect on the remaining prey in the ecosystem. The grey wolf was originally eradicated in the Yellowstone Park in order to increase quality of life for the elk. The elk was the natural prey of the wolf, and faced dwindling populations due to its presence. Following the elimination of the removal of the wolves, the elk population flourished, reaching numbers as high as 19,000. This eventually turned out to not be 100% good news for the park, as the elk greatly diminished the park’s trees.…

    • 361 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In recent years, we have seen the ecosystem flourish due to a successful reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park. We have seen a steady decrease in elk population, which in turn helped create a successful trophic cascade. Looking at graphs we can see that the wolf reintroduction has done its job, and we see a more than 50% decrease in population of elk. But what could happen if the wolf population doubled. We could see a total extermination of elk from Yellowstone and a decrease in visitors to Yellowstone, but in turn we could see in increase in the population of wolves, water animals, birds, and bears.…

    • 461 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Do you know how many gray wolves are left in North Dakota? There is no actual total because there are so few packs of gray wolves left. The gray wolf has resulted in a threatened species because predator-control is targeting them and destroying their habitat. Because they are supposedly killing too many livestock, predator-control is aiming towards gray wolves. The gray wolf is a threatened mammal in North Dakota. It is not commonly seen, but is usually mistaken for a coyote. They are being threatened all around North Dakota. Gray wolves appear in the state occasionally. As of 2013, it was arranged for the gray wolf to possibly be removed from the Endangered Species list. Currently, the population has rebounded since 1973 and is questionable…

    • 141 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    “Go back to California!”, is just one of the many things supporters of the Mexican Gray Wolf reintroduction program were hearing at a meeting about “predators” in Alpine this February. Over three hundred people were in attendance and only a handful of people were supporters of these dog sized predators. They sat quietly listening to everyone bash the most endangered mammal in North America (Corrigan). The Mexican Gray Wolf is about the size of a German Shepherd, four to five feet long and seventy to ninety pounds. Up until recently they only existed in zoos but with the Mexican Wolf Reintroduction project and the help of United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Arizona Game and Fish, White Mountain Apache Tribe, United States Department of Agriculture(USDA), animal and plant health inspection service, wildlife…

    • 1483 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Red Wolf Memo

    • 1055 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The purpose of this memo is to explain the causes of extinction within the Red wolf population and the Black bear population. The topics chosen explain how this issue came about, what factors created, and provided some solutions on how to prevent it and keep these endangered species’ population thriving. There were several ways the black bear and red wolf came to the brink of extinction and these article provide multiple solutions to sustain and endangered species.…

    • 1055 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The problem with offering money is that some ranchers have accepted it, but used that money to pay hunters to kill as many wolves as possible (nytimes, 2011). Ranchers do not believe that it is necessary to keep wolf populations as high as they are (nytimes, 2011). The fourth article discussed how the court was going to uphold Congress’s act to remove the wolf from the endangered species list (latimes, 2012). The main viewpoints are the agencies that support Congress’s decision to take the wolf off the list versus the environmental groups (latimes, 2012). The environmental groups were arguing that the rider that Congress issued in 2011 was a violation of the separation of powers doctrine (latimes, 2012). However, it was revealed that the separation of powers doctrine was not violated and that states should still get the rights to determine wolf population numbers (latimes, 2012). In the fifth article, state governments versus environmental groups are the main viewpoints (nytimes, 2013). State governments believe that they are the most competent to make decisions about the future of wolves (nytimes, 2013). Reports indicate that wolf populations remain…

    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Brian The issue for this week is very controversial, while both sides presented arguments that favor their idea of rewilding North America, the reality is that it will be very difficult to achieve. The primary reason for this idea to fail is the same one that occurred thousands of years ago “humans”. The level of development of North America will hinder the possibility for these organism to reach level similar to the Pleistocene levels. While similar experiments has been a complete success such as the reintroduction of the Gray Wolves at Yellowstone National Park, nevertheless other experiments has been a complete failure such as the introduction of one-humped camel (Camelus dromedaries) in Australia which have wreaked the desert ecosystems…

    • 511 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Wolves and humans have been coexisting for hundreds of years. Before Europeans conquered our vast country, wolves held a very esteemed place in Native American culture, as they were vital to forest ecosystems, and were often believed to be spiritual beings in many tribes (kidsplanet 1). As much as they were honored in tribal cultures, others feared them. Children’s fables often described them as “the big bad wolf” in stories such as Little Red Riding hood and The Three Little Pigs (kidsplanet 1). Settlers saw wolves in this way because they were a sort of competition, dwindling stock and wild game numbers (kidsplanet 1). Even into the 20th century, the belief that wolves were still a threat to human safety continued despite documentation to the contrary, and by the 1970s, the lower forty eight states had wolf populations less than three percent of their historical range, about 500 to 1,000 wolves (kidsplanet 1). In a book written by Bruce Hampton called The Great American Wolf, he states,…

    • 1729 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gray Wolf Habitat

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Wolf reintroduction is only considered where large tracts of suitable wilderness still exist and where certain prey species are abundant enough to support a predetermined wolf population. The five last known wild Mexican grey wolves were captured in 1980 in accordance with an agreement between the United States and Mexico intended to save the critically endangered subspecies. Since then, a comprehensive captive breeding program has brought Mexican wolves back from the brink. Currently, there are 300 captive Mexican wolves taking part in the program. The ultimate goal for these wolves, however, is to reintroduce them to areas of their former range. In March 1998, this reintroduction campaign began with the releasing of three packs into the Apache-Sit greaves National Forest in Arizona. Today, there may be up to 50 wild Mexican wolves in Arizona and New Mexico. The final goal for Mexican wolf recovery is a wild, self-sustaining population of at least 100…

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In addition to eliminating weak members of elk herds, hence strengthening the heard as a whole, wolves keep herds on the move and maintain the balance of the herd in reform to the fragile wilderness. In moving the herd frequently, wolves preserve groves of aspens and other smooth-barked trees, improving the stability of the ground and preventing damaging erosion, especially near river and stream banks essential for the survival of fish, beavers, and even aquatic-oriented birds. An imbalance in the wolf population has repercussions on the entire ecosystem, ranging from the more easily seen populations of elk to the more blurred effects on fish and expanding even further to animals who depend on fish, ultimately affecting even markets in our economy. This “trophic cascade,” named by biologists and ecologists, have a wide array of repercussions which can occasionally be irreversible. Entire populations can easily be wiped clear from existence, giving way to a devastating mudslide of devastation and a whole new era of demanding complications. In a field study, Ecologist William Ripple and his Oregon State University colleague Robert Beschta reported that “within three years after wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park elk populations fell, pockets of trees and shrubs began rebounding. Beavers returned, coyote numbers dropped and habitat flourished for fish and birds.” And yet, people…

    • 1602 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sea Otters Essay

    • 1044 Words
    • 5 Pages

    While the causes of some cycles are known, the causes of others are not” [3]. The Aleutian Islands are off the coast of Alaska in the Pacific Ocean, reaching towards Russia. One of the known causes of depletion occurred in America (and other countries) in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In fact, the activities of humans during this time period almost caused an extinction of sea otters [3]. Sea otter fur was highly desired during this time. Hunting and poaching of the sea otter for its fur almost caused its extinction. Russian fur traders almost depleted this creature from the Aleutian Islands. Due to this travesty, sea otters became a protected animal in 1911 [3]. This was a known cause of a recovery in the sea otter populations. The recovery lasted until the 1980’s. That was over half a century of recovery. In fact, during the 1950’s, sea otter populations had almost returned to where they were prior to the hunting epidemic [3]. According to STUDY 3 they had reached “pre-commercial hunting levels around some of the islands” [3]. An unknown depletion of sea otter populations followed this recovery. Around the turn of the millennium, sea otter populations were declining at a rate of 17-18 percent per year…

    • 1044 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The author discusses the benefits the wolves have on the habitat and the other animals in Yellowstone. The wolves are the natural predator in the Yellowstone habitat and thus are a keystone species. Once it was decided to remove the wolves from the park, the habitat and the other animals began to suffer. Once the wolves were completely gone, the coyote became the predator, but they weren’t large enough to take down the bigger animals such as elk and deer. These animals are grazers and once they didn’t have to worry about a predator, they overgrazed the land, which inhibits the growth of trees and other plants. This suppression affects beavers and birds as well as other animals. Scavengers in Yellowstone are also dependant on wolves because they feed on the wolves’ kills and without them they…

    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gray Wolf Essay

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Did you know that the Gray wolf is native to southern Organ? The Wolf is a very aggressive animal most likely one of the most aggressive animals. Wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone national park in 1995, but did you know that many wolf attaches have happened including a wolf attacked on a six year old boy on April 14, 2000 and killed him. Today I am going to talk to you about the animals lost by turning thees wolves loose, how a wolf will come after a human, and the government is spending more money.…

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Animal Extinction

    • 1146 Words
    • 5 Pages

    * Chronicle, Atlanta. Animal Extinction Causes and Effects. 2012. ACME Articles. Accessed May 8. http://www.acme-articles.com/article/Environmental/Animal_Extinction_Causes_and_Effects/88197…

    • 1146 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays