The
knowledge on trophic cascades can be used to restore ecosystems.
In
one of my previous posts I showed a video describing the trophic
cascade that occurred in the Yellowstone National Park. This video
was narrated by George Monbiot. Monbiot is an environmental and
political activist. He has recently become interested in rewilding
ecosystems. Rewilding is the “mass restoration of
ecosystems”(Monbiot 2013). My past posts have described the
cascading effects that occur when predators are removed from an
ecosystem. This knowledge “make(s)...a powerful case for the
reintroduction of missing species” (Monbiot 2013), and so can be
used for restoring ecosystems back to their original health.
According to Monbiot (2013), rewilding is bringing back lost plants
and animals, then basically letting nature do its work. He explains
in more detail in the video below. Enjoy
If anybody wants to know about something in particular on trophic cascades, please leave a comment below.
References
Monbiot,
G 2013, For more wonder, rewild the world, TEDTalks.
This is a very interesting idea and I agree that, in some circumstances, this is definitely a good and practical approach and could indeed be manageable. However, what about areas where the keystone species have become extinct? What happens if there are just some species of critical importance that cannot be returned to areas where they historically occurred?
ReplyDelete