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How Wolves Change Rivers by the folks at
Sustainable Man...
"When wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park in the United States after being absent nearly 70 years, the most remarkable "trophic cascade" occurred. What is a trophic cascade and how exactly do wolves change rivers? George Monbiot explains in this movie remix."
Update: Whoops, stop the presses, in
NYTimes OpEd piece
Is the Wolf a Real American Hero?, Yale Forestry & Enviro Studies Post-Doc Arthur Middleton calls "BS" on this simplistic myth...
"This story -- that wolves fixed a broken Yellowstone by killing and frightening elk -- is one of ecology’s most famous. It’s the classic example of what’s called a “trophic cascade,” and has appeared in textbooks, on National Geographic centerfolds and in this newspaper. Americans may know this story better than any other from ecology, and its grip on our imagination is one of the field’s proudest contributions to wildlife conservation. But there is a problem with the story: It’s not true. [...] When we tell the wolf story, we get the Yellowstone story wrong."
As
DailyKos quotes, this is damning...
"Perhaps the greatest risk of this story is a loss of credibility for the scientists and environmental groups who tell it."
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