This is pretty cool. I have no idea if it's accurate but still cool.
I don't doubt that wolves have had an impact on Yellowstone. But my inner economist has to ask, are we now better off? How do we know that this new steady state (if in fact it is steasy) is 'better' than the previous state without the wolves?
Oh, and if reintroducing wolves is this great, what would happen if we reintroduced dinosaurs?
“We” meaning humans? Ecologists don’t measure “better off”-ness in terms of impacts on humans. They typically use a diversity measure (which in and of itself may not be that useful of a measure). Basically the wolves made more “things” (in number and kind) appear.
The video makes it sound like the wolves predated on coyotes. I think it had more to do with territoriality.
Ecosystem Stability, yeah man, deep stuff…
PS: What was the result of the OODEE match up against that hick school in Kentucky?
No dinosaurs. If you bring in dinosaurs, you have to get some Col. Sanders looking dude with a cane and Jeff Goldblum. Frankly, that is a step too far.
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