Lecture 11 Flashcards
What percentage of species assessed are threatened with extinction? Who assessed this?
27%
IUCN
What is global terrestrial diversity expected to decrease by by 2050? Who claimed this?
Decrease by a further 10%
OECD
When has the rise of rewilding been?
2000-2014
Lorimer et al., 2015
Define rewilding
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
Current rewilding projects
Jepson, 2015 Yellowstone National Park, USA Galápagos Islands Gondwana Link, Australia Pleistocene Park, Russia Alladale Wilderness Reserve, Scotland Devon Beaver Lroject Oostverdersplassen, Netherlands
What is Pleistocene rewilding?
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
What is passive rewilding?
Passive management of ecological succession with the goal of restoring natural ecosystem process and reducing human control of landscapes
Gillson et al., 2011
What is translocation rewilding?
Seeks to restore missing or dysfunctional ecological processes and ecosystem function via a process of species reintroduction
Seddon et al., 2014
Example of private rewilding
Knepp Castle Estatr
What happened when wolves were killed in Yellowstone National Park?
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
How many wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park and in what year?
1995 - 14 wolves reintroduced
1996 - 17 wolves reintroduced
What caused decline in the Eurasian lynx?
Deforestation
Intense persecution by humans
Characteristics of Eurasian Lynx
Solitary
Noctural hunters
Feed on mammals and birds
Arguments for reintroduction of the Eurasian lynx to the UK
- Help woodlands regenerate by controlling roe deer
- Successful lynx reintroductions elsewhere in Europe
- Now ample tree cover in parts of Scotland and Northern England
Arguments against reintroduction of the Eurasian lynx to the UK
-May pose a threat to humans and livestock (sheep)
What does Pleistocene rewilding aim to create in Northeast Siberia?
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)
How might Pleistocene rewilding help the environment?
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
How does passive rewilding occur?
Lessening human impacts on ecosystems
- Land abandonment
- Undoing past human interventions
- Alleviating current human impacts
Example of translocation rewilding
Oostvaardersplassen Nature Reserve
Restoring megafauna
By 2000 numbers approached carrying capacity, leading to large die-offs in winters of 2005 and 2010
What project was carried out at Gelderse Port, Netherlands?
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
Benefits of rewilding
- Help nature recover
- Look after ourselves
- Return missing species
- Revitalise communities
- Keep us healthy
- Positive legacy
- Legal and moral obligation
Media conceptions of rewilding
Tropic cascades will fix everything
Threat to farming in the UK
What is the new restoration agenda?
Restore 15% of systems
