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Predation in ecology
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Before settlers began to migrate to California in the 1850’s, the Gray Wolf was abundant not only in California, but in other western states as well. The species helped to create a balance in the environment. In the west, wolves have lived in a variety of environments, from the high Sierra Nevadas to the deep national forests. With their fierce hunting skills and large territories, wolves were spread all over the west. As settlers migrated into California and began to establish farms and small settlements, wolves began to hunt livestock, which was an issue. To solve this issue, people were encouraged to hunt wolves. In 1924, the last wolf was killed, and for 89 years, no wolves were known to live in California.
INTERACTIONS WITH ECOSYSTEM (Logan, Rose)
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The Gray Wolf has been known to have a very big environmental influence, whether it be a positive influence or a negative influence. They can rejuvenate an environment just as easily as they can help it decline. Wolves’ negative impact on an ecosystem stands with how they can prey on livestock, to the point where farmers would go and hunt them so that their livestock population was safer. However, this goes both ways. A wolf’s positive impact is that they can regulate and help provide for other species. They can regulate by not letting the elk population get too high. They can help provide for other species by leaving substantial leftovers when they hunt. The Gray Wolf is known as a keystone species for this reason. Without the wolves that rightfully belong in an ecosystem, the balance of an ecosystem is offset. By looking at Yellowstone Park, we also see
The history behind the extirpation of the grey wolf in the United States dates back to the very first European settlers that colonized eastern North America in the late 16th century. The killing of gray wolves was done primarily out of fear in an attempt to protect livestock, and, in some cases, to protect human life within the colonies. As more settlers expanded West, the practice of killing wolves was considerably increased to protect livestock that included cows, pigs, and chickens. As waves of European settlers expanded westward, they began to deplete the deer, moose, and elk populations. The gray wolves food source continual depletion gave rise to wolf populations actively targeting the settler’s livestock, causing great financial loss. The fiscal loss of livestock became such an issue to wealthy ranchers and settlers that they began to offer cash rewards for wolf pelts. This practice gave birth to a lucrative cottage industry of professional hunters and trappers. As the wolves began to move further West, and into Wyoming, they began to diminish the elk and moose population. To respond to this threat, Congress approved funding in 1914, to eliminate the native gray wolves from
The gray wolf, Canis lupus, on Isle Royal is a small ever fluctuating population. On the endangered species list since 1978, the gray wolf has recently been taken off the endangere...
Gray Wolf Optimization Gray wolf optimization is presented in the following subsections based on the work in [13]. 1) Inspiration: Grey wolves are considered as apex predators, meaning that they are at the top of the food chain. Grey wolves mostly prefer to live in a pack. The group size is 512 on average. They have a very strict social dominant hierarchy.
Many hundreds of years ago wolves roamed the entire North American continent with no barriers and very few predators. As settlers moved into the United States, wolves became more and more scarce in the wild of America. As the wilderness areas of the United States declined, so did the population of the wolf, until there were only a few spots in the wild where wolves could still be found.
Hypotheses of the Effects of Wolf Predation Abstract: This paper discusses four hypotheses to explain the effects of wolf predation on prey populations of large ungulates. The four proposed hypotheses examined are the predation limiting hypothesis, the predation regulating hypothesis, the predator pit hypothesis, and the stable limit cycle hypothesis. There is much research literature that discusses how these hypotheses can be used to interpret various data sets obtained from field studies. It was concluded that the predation limiting hypothesis fit most study cases, but that more research is necessary to account for multiple predator - multiple prey relationships. The effects of predation can have an enormous impact on the ecological organization and structure of communities.
During 70 years of absence from the Rockies, the Grey Wolf had been protected under the Endangered Species Act that was passed in 1973. Since the wolf is under the protection of Endangered Species Act a person could be punished with up to a $100,000 fine and up to 1 year in jail for killing a wolf. Back in the 1850's there was a major population increase of the wolves in America, this was due to settlers moving west. These settlers killed more than 80 million bison, the wolves started to scavenge on the carcasses left behind.
...y white fur for fur that cost a lot of money. Some people like to sell their teeth for money or make jewelry. Mostly just for the thrill of it. Also to sell the whole wolf for money or cut off pieces of the wolf like head, ears, paws, and tail as a award for that they killed one. So because of all the stuff that people are doing to kill these wolves are making all them all disappear. There are less ad less. There are not in all 50 states as they use to be, they are reduced down to 7 states and Canada, that is how serious there case is now a day.
The red wolf is one of the most endangered wild canids in the world, once common throughout south eastern United States, the red wolf population was severely reduced due to intensive predator control programs and loss of habitat. A few remaining wolves were found on the Gulf coast of Texas and Louisiana, at this point in the 1970’s, the entire population was believed to be fewer than 100.
This report is all about the gray wolf. Its scientific name is Canis Lupis. Canis is the Latin word for dog. The genus also includes jackals and coyotes. Lupis is the Latin word for wolf. Gray wolves look similar to German shepherds, but the wolf has longer legs and bigger feet. The color of a gray wolf can range from black to white, but shades of gray are the most common. A unique feature about gray wolves is that the farther north you find them, the larger they are. Males can range from (nose-to-tail) five to six and a half feet and females range from four and a half to six feet. The normal life span of a wolf is about thirteen years, but most wolves don’t live past ten years for numerous reasons. Examples include disease, hunters, etc. The wolves that live in Arctic climates have very thick coats of fur that keeps them warm. Wolves, like all canines, have 42 teeth. Their “fangs”, or canine teeth, are used to grab prey and like a hook. These teeth can be as long as two and a half inches.
The Gray Wolf’s environment can be either in the woods or tundra and grasslands. Those are three places where you can find them roaming around. Sometimes you can find them in the hot and dry desert. The Gray Wolf can also be seen roaming in urban areas eating trash out of somebody’s trash can.
In 1922 the federal government passed a law that allowed wolves in Yellowstone National Park to be hunted. In just four years later the last wolf was hunted. In 1995, the gray wolf was reintroduced to the park. The government started off by introducing 31 wolves in the Montana and Wyoming parts of the park. Now 116 wolves now live and more then 75 pups.
...ts. “Wolves are very resourceful. All they need to survive is for people to not shoot them” ― Bob Ferris. This is true; we are the ones who made them extinct, so it is our job to fix it.
When the reintroduction of wolves began in the state of Wisconsin, a goal of 350 wolves was set, and this number was reached successfully in a short amount of time. Once this was reached, however, the population continued to rise dramatically and exponentially, and is now in the upper 600s (Allen). The problems now come down to a few simple questions that have complex answers. Will a regulated hunt get out of control, and a repeat of the past begins? Are the wolves posing any sort of threat in the present? Who or what would a hunt benefit? First, the issue of the past must be addressed. Back in the earlier years of the United States, wolves roamed free, and when farmers moved their livestock into what was then the wolves' territo...
Wolves had live throughout parts of the world for thousands of years before humans just kept rising in population and minimizing the wolves’ population through the expansion of their territories for farm agriculture and industrialization. It is only in the United States where humans completely annihilated wolves; they did this by hunting the wolves down until the last wolf was killed in 1926. However, in 1995, 14 wolves were caught from Canada and release into Yellowstone National Park. This makes it almost 70 years since the wolves have been reintroduced back into Yellowstone National Park (17 July 2009)
Let me tell you something. In 1970, Gray Wolves used to have a population of 250,000. But now due to mass wolf hunting, the numbers are down to 500. Hello everyone. Today, I’d like to speak on behalf of the Wolf Conservation Center about the importance of wolves, and why they should be protected. Wolves are too often a misunderstood creature, instead of showing fascination, we always fear them, which is the exact opposite of what we should be doing. The society of wolves is just like ours, sorted by ranks, defined by confidence, and full of emotions. We are more like them than we think. Except they are being hunted, and we are not. In many parts of where they range, all types of wolves are being persecuted for killing livestock. As a result, humans have been killing wolves for years, because of us, their numbers are decreasing by thousands.