Carnivores in Ecosystems: The Yellowstone Experience
Brand: Yale University Press
Categories: Books, Science & Math, Biological Sciences



Dimensions: 6.75 x 1 x 9.5 inches
ISBN-13: 978-0300078169
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0300078161
Publisher: Yale University Press
Print length: 446 pages
Publication date: November 10, 1999
subtitle: Hardcover – November 10, 1999
author: Professor Timothy W. Clark A. Peyton Curlee Professor Steven C. Minta Peter Kareiva IV
review: Editorial Reviews Amazon.com Review The behavior of carnivores in ecosystems can reveal a great deal of information about not only animals and their prey, but also the habitats themselves. When carnivores begin to disappear, biologists have observed, ecosystems tend to deteriorate, the victims of a natural imbalance. Such was the case in the Yellowstone ecosystem of Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, where a federal program of predator control resulted in the extermination of the wolf, lynx, grizzly bear, and other mammals; with their disappearance came a rise in ungulate populations, which in turn taxed the resources of the area beyond their capacity. Soon after the reintroduction of the wolf and grizzly bear in Yellowstone, a conference of biologists and wildlife managers met to study the ecosystemic effects of these predators. The results of that conference are published in this volume, a collection of scholarly papers that address the essential role of predators to a well-functioning environment. The reintroduction, the contributors note, was not without controversy: local ranchers opposed the presence of predators whose populations their forebears had fought hard to remove. The contributors acknowledge that the reintroduction increases the odds of predation on livestock--and of encounters between humans and potentially dangerous animals in the heavily visited national park area. Even so, they add, the park is indisputably healthier for the presence of the carnivores. Students of conservation biology and natural-resource management will find much of use in these clearly written, thoughtful essays. --Gregory McNamee From Library Journal Edited by a group of scholars, this collection of essays traces the history of carnivorous wildlife in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, an area of almost eight million hectares in the mountains of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. The area is relatively wild and intact and still supports the full range of carnivores that were present before Europeans arrived on the continent. Over the last century, many researchers have studied the carnivorous animal populations of the Yellowstone area, so there is a significant body of knowledge about these predators; the goal of this book is to integrate and synthesize that knowledge, so that managers and decision-makers can access it more effectively. Written by experts in wildlife and ecosystem management, the collected essays are thoroughly researched; and authors are careful to consider the political and public relations aspects of wildlife management as well. Because of its scholarly approach, this book will be of interest mainly to those concerned with wildlife conservation and ecosystem management, or those in the Greater Yellowstone area.ADeborah Emerson, Monroe Community Coll. Lib., Rochester, NY Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist Yellowstone is the world's first national park and as such has been under various levels of scientific scrutiny for decades. The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is an eight-million-hectare portion of the Rocky Mountains, in which the park lies embedded, and this area still contains (with the reintroduction of the gray wolf) all of the carnivorous animals that were present before the arrival of European settlers. As a relatively intact ecosystem, Yellowstone has much to teach us about how the different species of carnivore interact with each other, with their prey, and with the environment. This collection of essays covers not only the well-known megacarnivores, such as wolves, bears, and cougars, but also the smaller animals, such as badgers, otters, and mink. Several papers consider the ecosystem as a model with international significance. Although the scientific and technical nature of the book may place it beyond those with a casual interest, the level of fascination with the return of wolves to Yellowstone National Park recommends this excellent overview of the area's carnivores for libraries with large natural history collections. Nancy Bent Read more