How Wolves Change Rivers- by George Monbiot

How Wolves Change Rivers – by George Monbiot

Rating: ****

This TEDx Talk was about how the wolves changed the behaviour of the rivers, animals and vegetation. In 1995 wolves were reintroduced at Yellowstone National Park in the United States, and the scientists discovered that the wolves had changed the behaviour of the deer and caused them to avoid certain spots in the park where they could get trapped while being hunted by wolves. This caused or the vegetation in those areas to grow back. With the vegetation growing back, it brought in more song birds and beavers since they do enjoy the trees. The number of bears also rose thanks to the regeneration of shrubs with berries. The rivers changed too because there were more trees and roots that would stop the erosion happening on the river banks. With the wolves killing coyotes, the number of rabbits and mice rose and so did the number of hawks, weasels, foxes and badgers. The carcases that the wolves would leave would be eaten up by eagles, and ravens, which would cause for their numbers to start rising also. Wolves may be small in group but can make a huge change in the ecosystem around them.

This TEDx Talk was very eye opening and interesting to listen to. I made me think about how fragile our ecosystem is and how fragile the food chain can be. It’s like a domino effect that that if you remove one, it can screw up the whole chain. Just by adding one extra piece to the ecosystem at Yellowstone Park, it changed everything for the better and not the worst.

Samantha,Meloche TEDx Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q