<
https://www.sciencealert.com/wolves-in-scotland-could-help-reduce-carbon-in-the-sky-heres-how>
"It's been centuries since a wolf's howl was heard across the Scottish
Highlands, but a team of researchers thinks it's time to bring back these
much-maligned predators.
Doing so, their simulations have found, could return native woodlands to the
country and pull carbon from the air.
Wolves (
Canis lupus) were totally eradicated by human hunting in Scotland,
with tradition claiming the last wolf was killed about 250 years ago (although
it's difficult to be sure of the exact year, amid local myth and legend).
Around that time, the Jacobite rebellion of 1745 fundamentally changed much of
the nation's land use. Woodland was cleared, and large shooting estates were
established.
Eradicating this apex predator unraveled entire woodland ecosystems because the
wolf's prey, red deer (
Cervus elaphus), could multiply unabated.
Recent estimates suggest up to 400,000 red deer are out there right now,
trampling and gnawing at the young saplings of trees that, in their absence,
could grow into woodlands. Today, Scotland has native woods covering less than
4 percent of its surface, one of the lowest levels in Europe.
It's a textbook case of a predator as a 'keystone' species: a brick in the arch
that holds its entire structure in place. In the US, reintroduction of wolves
to a number of nationally managed ecosystems has been successful, most famously
in Yellowstone National Park.
In theory, returning wolves to Scotland's wilds should help reduce the deer
numbers, giving the woodland a chance to make a comeback."
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
