A reminder of the important role wolves, and other large predators, play in maintaining healthy ecosystems.

As Mother Nature’s wildlife managers, wolves regulate prey populations to enable many other species of plants and animals to flourish. Initiating these trickle-down effects can improve ecosystem function and resilience, as evidenced by the return of wolves to Yellowstone National Park in the 1990s.

“In the 1990s, elk were still keeping the willows short, usually less than 2 feet tall, and that led to stream widening—oversized cross sections of channel and a drastically reduced frequency of overbank flows. But by 2017, willow heights greater than 6 feet were prevalent and canopy cover over the stream, which had essentially been absent in 1995, had increased to 43 percent and 93 percent along the west fork and east fork, respectively.”

L'augmentation de la hauteur des saules, une plus grande couverture de la canopée et la stabilisation des berges grâce à des berges bien végétalisées indiquent tous un rétablissement de l'écosystème riverain/aquatique.

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