Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Taiga!

This week, we have been discussing the Taiga biome, a coniferous forest that covers a huge swath of land just below the Arctic circle. Almost all of Canada and large portions of Russia and China are covered in this beautiful biome. Humans have done some damage to the ecosystem over the years, but there are also many groups trying to help protect and preserve the land. One controversial area of conservation is the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone Park.

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Watch the video. PBS.org

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Discuss the pros and cons of reintroducing wolves into Yellowstone National Park. Please write a paragraph.


15 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Taiga biome has some amazing animals. One of them is the wolf. A bunch of people say that wolves are dangerous, but some experts say that these are tall tails. The experts say that wolves actually help the environment. The meat of the wolves dead pray that the wolves don't eat is food for the scavengers. Studies show the the wolves main prey is elk. Some people say that the wolf is endangering the elk but really there are other carnivores in the park and the elk that wander outside the park grounds can be victims to hunters. So all in all I think that the wolves are a very good species to have in the park and I support their comeback full heartedly.

Anonymous said...

There are pros and cons to having a lot of wolves in yellowstone. A pro is that the studies on wolves has been much easier to get information. It is also awesome for visitors to get to be so close to the wolves and they are so visible. A con is that they will be killing a lot of other animals like elk.

Anonymous said...

In 1994, wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone Park. There are several pros and cons. It has made wolves much easier to study, because they are able to keep track of all of them, opening new doors in the science of wolves. It is good for nature and conservation efforts. Wolves are not endangered, but it is always good to preserve species. The controversy comes up about how the wolves affect the ecosystem in Yellowstone. Some people say the ecosystem was thriving before they came, and there is no need to disrupt it. They have detected a decline in the elk population, which is the main prey hunted by wolves. On one hand, wolves only hunt the most vulnerable elk, allowing for a sort of “survival of the fittest” sort of thing to happen. However, some people that the elk population is not too large, and it should not be declining. Although, even though the elk population decline occurred around the time the wolves were introduced, there are many other factors that could be contributing to their population drop, so it is too soon to say whether the wolves are having a negative impact. However the wolves do have some undoubtedly positive impacts on the ecosystem. When a wolf hunts, its prey is more than just a meal for the wolf. It is a meal for many scavengers, treasure for insects, and even some nutrient leak into the soil. So there are no definite downsides to wolves being introduced to the park, but if it turns out that the elk population decline is related to the wolves, then something will have to be done. This is very possible because 90% of the wolves’ prey is elk, much more than normal in the wild, probably because it is their favorite prey and it is readily available to them.

Anonymous said...

Some pros are the that the research is much easier in yellowstone then when there outside in the wilderness. When they kill an animal it doesn't only feed the wolves it helps feed scavengers like the fox and vultures. Also its good for tourism. A con is it is killing off elk babies and women so they cant reproduce easily and they're population is going down

Anonymous said...

I believe that it is a great idea to reintroduce wolves to Yellowstone. For one, people can understand these animals’ nature and visitors and see wolves in their natural state. They help the park by preventing from any of the species population overpopulating.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

A con is that some of the wolves food source is dying off. It's dying off due to hunting and a lot being eaten by wolves. The wolves are eating the calves and the sick/injured. A pro is that the wolves are now easier to to see. Another pro is that they are easier to track and get information on. Finally, people are happy that the wolves are in Yellowstone because they see wolves in the wild.

Anonymous said...

ummm a bad thing is that their food is becoming scarce because they are eating alot. but on the other hand having wolves in yellowstone all together helped alot for reasearch. And tourism. And when they hunt they are helping the other animals get food too, like scavengers and foxes.

Unknown said...

One simple pro is them killing. Their killing animals makes a good meal for many scavengers and insects that feed on dead animals. It also helps the soil by letting the rotting animal's nutrients decompose. A (semi-controversial) con would be that they are killing the elk population. Scientists, however, say that many pressures are placed on elk populations such as human hunting, other predators and a recent drought

Anonymous said...

Wolves are not as dangerous as people say, and they help prevent overpopulation.

Anonymous said...

They also can be studied when reintroduced to Yellowstone. It is dangerous to let them do to much hunting.

Anonymous said...

I think it is a good idea to have wolves in yellowstone park so that there is a more diverse population of animals, but I think it may be harder to regulate the population as it grows and also I think it is not helping the problem with decline in alks, though it is not solely the wolves, even when they are going for the weakest links like the cavfs and the older females 90% of their kills are alks. On the other hand they are helping many scavenger species to survive by leaving behind carcasas for them to feed on. I also think that while wolves should have a place at yellowstone park it isn’t the best time since the alk population has already decreased because of the drought, hunting and the large group of carnivores that live within yellowstone park. I do however think that, yes, wolves should be able to live in yellowstone park, but it seems like it may not be in the best interest for other animals.

Anonymous said...

There are pros (good things) and cons (bad things) of having the wolves in yellowstone. The good things are that they kill animals and scavengers can eat what they leave. They are also visible making it easier for people to see and study them. The bad thing is that they are killing a lot of elk.

Anonymous said...

a pro of reintroducing wolves is that they could be observed and studied much easier than out in the wild. A con is the fact that they could go around eating alot of the other animals

Anonymous said...
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