In this day and age, it easy to forget just how powerful nature is. When wolves were re-introduced into vast portions of Yellowstone National Park, experts never imagined just how much of an impact it would have on it’s precious ecosystem.
In 1995, Wolves were brought into Yellowstone to do what they do best, prey on unsuspecting deer. The goal was to revive some of the lowest levels of vegetation around the park. The result is called a ‘Trophic Cascade’ of nature blossoming down from the grass growth up to the most predatory mammals in the wild. The word trophic can be thought of as the food chain, ie..Trophic 1 being the vegetetation, Trophic 2 being insects, birds and so forth. The cascade is what occurs as a result of the introduction of a high level carnivore into the equation. The effect will carry out, causing a change in every trophic level.
This is exactly what happened in Yellowstone. Suddenly the marsh, grasses, and trees began growing back in great numbers. The insects, then flourished. Then the birds, fish, etc..
All of this happened because there was a higher level of predation on the deer fawn population.
It is stories like these that make you stop and remember, mother nature is absolutely marvelous!
