Lecture 11

Question 1

What percentage of species assessed are threatened with extinction? Who assessed this?

Answer 1

27%

IUCN

Question 2

What is global terrestrial diversity expected to decrease by by 2050? Who claimed this?

Answer 2

Decrease by a further 10%

OECD

Question 3

When has the rise of rewilding been?

Answer 3

2000-2014

Lorimer et al., 2015

Question 4

Define rewilding

Answer 4

The scientific argument for restoring big wilderness based on the regulatory roles of large predators
Soule and Noss, 1998

Reintroduction of species and replacement of globally extinct species to resurrect ecological processes and restore ecosystem function
Sandom et al. 2012

Large scale restoration of ecology to a point where we can leave it alone

Question 5

Current rewilding projects

Answer 5

Jepson, 2015
Yellowstone National Park, USA
Galápagos Islands
Gondwana Link, Australia
Pleistocene Park, Russia
Alladale Wilderness Reserve, Scotland
Devon Beaver Lroject
Oostverdersplassen, Netherlands

Question 6

What is Pleistocene rewilding?

Answer 6

Aims to restore some of the evolutionary and ecological potential that was lost 13,000 years ago (introducing relatives or functional equivalents of extinct taxa)
Donlan et al. 2005

Question 7

What is passive rewilding?

Answer 7

Passive management of ecological succession with the goal of restoring natural ecosystem process and reducing human control of landscapes
Gillson et al., 2011

Question 8

What is translocation rewilding?

Answer 8

Seeks to restore missing or dysfunctional ecological processes and ecosystem function via a process of species reintroduction
Seddon et al., 2014

Question 9

Example of private rewilding

Answer 9

Knepp Castle Estatr

Question 10

What happened when wolves were killed in Yellowstone National Park?

Answer 10

Last wolf killed in 1926
Elk took over and eroded land
Many plants died off included Aspen and Cottonwood
Elk culled for over 30 years
Coyote numbers increased and led to dramatic decline in pronghorn antelope

Question 11

How many wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park and in what year?

Answer 11

1995 - 14 wolves reintroduced

1996 - 17 wolves reintroduced

Question 12

What caused decline in the Eurasian lynx?

Answer 12

Deforestation

Intense persecution by humans

Question 13

Characteristics of Eurasian Lynx

Answer 13

Solitary
Noctural hunters
Feed on mammals and birds

Question 14

Arguments for reintroduction of the Eurasian lynx to the UK

Answer 14

• Help woodlands regenerate by controlling roe deer
• Successful lynx reintroductions elsewhere in Europe
• Now ample tree cover in parts of Scotland and Northern England

Question 15

Arguments against reintroduction of the Eurasian lynx to the UK

Answer 15

-May pose a threat to humans and livestock (sheep)

Question 16

What does Pleistocene rewilding aim to create in Northeast Siberia?

Answer 16

Aims to recreate the Mammoth Steppe Ecosystem
Park established in 1977
Key concept is that animals maintained the ecosystem
Reintroduce primitive breeds to the tundra (Bison, musk ox, reindeer)

Question 17

How might Pleistocene rewilding help the environment?

Answer 17

Change from tundra to grassland could protect from climate change
When there are no herbivores or grasses, surface isn’t as cold and permafrost starts to melt
When permafrost melts, all the vegetation trapped in the layer starts to break down and great volumes of CO2 are released

Question 18

How does passive rewilding occur?

Answer 18

Lessening human impacts on ecosystems

1. Land abandonment
2. Undoing past human interventions
3. Alleviating current human impacts

Question 19

Example of translocation rewilding

Answer 19

Oostvaardersplassen Nature Reserve
Restoring megafauna
By 2000 numbers approached carrying capacity, leading to large die-offs in winters of 2005 and 2010

Question 20

What project was carried out at Gelderse Port, Netherlands?

Answer 20

Restoring river and grazing dynamics
Supported reintroductions: beaver, white stork, sturgeon
Comeback of: rare species (black poplar, otters) and declining species (marsh warbler)
Socio-economic benefits: tourist spot, diverse livelihoods, improved life quality

Question 21

Benefits of rewilding

Answer 21

• Help nature recover
• Look after ourselves
• Return missing species
• Revitalise communities
• Keep us healthy
• Positive legacy
• Legal and moral obligation

Question 22

Media conceptions of rewilding

Answer 22

Tropic cascades will fix everything

Threat to farming in the UK

Question 23

What is the new restoration agenda?

Answer 23

Restore 15% of systems