Concept
Version 7
Created by Boundless
Ecological Restoration
Yellowstone National Park restoration efforts
(a) The Gibbon wolf pack in Yellowstone National Park represents a keystone species. The reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park in 1995 led to a change in the grazing behavior of (b) elk. To avoid predation, the elk no longer grazed exposed stream and riverbeds, such as (c) the Lamar Riverbed in Yellowstone. This allowed willow and cottonwood seedlings to grow. The seedlings decreased erosion and provided shading to the creek, which improved fish habitat. A new colony of (d) beaver may also have benefited from the habitat change.
Source
Boundless vets and curates high-quality, openly licensed content from around the Internet. This particular resource used the following sources:
"OpenStax College, Preserving Biodiversity. October 17, 2013."
http://cnx.org/content/m44898/latest/Figure_47_04_02abcd.jpg
OpenStax CNX
CC BY 3.0.