Rewilding Question Sheet PDF

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Question Sheet on Rewilding...

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Rewilding Question Sheet

1. Discuss the importance of megafauna.! a. Megafauna is the idea of reintroducing large vertebras like cheetahs, lions, and mammoths into North America. They once roamed North America but went extinct and today they inhabit less then 10% of the globe. !

2. Give three reasons to rewild the west.! a. Pleistocene rewilding--a proposal to bring back animals that disappeared from North America 13,000 years ago. Ecosystems began to collapse due to the lack of biodiversity. Where they still exist they serve pivotal roles. For example, in Alaska sea otters maintain kelp forests. In Africa, they are a keystone species elephants knock down trees and create a habitat. Rewilding would be about restoring the species interactions that thrive in certain ecosystems. Land is available in North America for the reintroduction. We need to reverse negative human effects. It would also bring up tourism bringing money to the US economy. !

3. Explain the benefits obtained from the reintroduction of Wolves to Yellowstone.! a. The loss of wolves led to. Increases in all their prey. They are helping the park cope with climate change. They are also bringing stability to the parks ecosystem once again. !

4. Give three reasons not to rewild the west.! a.

Introduced animals could bring novel diseases with them or they could be susceptible to diseases we have in north America. There could be bad reactions from neighboring communities. We would need to monitor these animals and this would take patience and expertise Or simply that its not feasible. !

5. Discuss three challenges that must be overcome in order for this project to succeed.! a. Some challenges we could face include providing cheetah with a securely fenced area that has appropriate habitat and prey animals. Bringing back lions presents daunting challenged. We would also need to figure out how to fence in elephants and the cost involved would be a lot.!

6. Imagine that rewilding on the large scale envisioned on the article occurs and that rewilding helps ensure the survival of threatened species such as African lions and cheetahs. Also imagine that although measures are taken to contain large animals, there are some human-animal conflicts. Focusing on conflicts that result in physical harm or even death, what level of such incidents do you that the maintenance of rewilded areas to preserve these animals would no longer be justified? Explain your answer.! a. I think that once the rewild animals start killing people or there are a lot of conflicts its no longer worth it and it will be hard to have the public agree due to the threats on their lives. I just don’t feel it would be worth it if peoples lives start to appear to be threatened or we cant control these animals. !

7. Imagine that you’re an elementary school teacher.

An ecologist who is speaking to your 5th grade class forgets her audience and says, “Removal of wolves from the Yellowstone ecosystem propagated a trophic cascade.” One of the students raises her hand, looks to you, and asks, “what does that mean? What happened? What happens if wolves come back?” What will you tell her?! a. I would say that once the wolves left the ecosystem things started to fall apart. They were a very important species to the area and they kept it functioning properly. When they were no longer there the ecosystem started to fall apart so the reintroduction really saved the area and brought back the stability they once had. !...