Yellowstone seems like one of the most resilient ecosystems we do science on, seems it can reorganize to respond to changes in species.
Can other ecosystems do this? Or is Yellowstone the only one?
Can other ecosystems do this? Or is Yellowstone the only one?
- intact enough to have quick bounce back behavior upon species reintroduction and
- small enough for you to have a good idea about which species are present
- come with a built-in control variable: the civilian space on the other side of the border represents what would have happened if we had let economics have its way with the land
Maybe you don't need quite that level of protection to see such effects, but generally you do need some. Throwing some wolves at a once-forest that's now half way to being a desert will not always save that forest.