Locksley
Well-Known Member
Matt Miller: Should We Reintroduce Elephants to America?
Born To Rewild
Written by Matt Miller
Published on March 3rd, 2009 in Animals, Conservation Issues, Grasslands, North America, science
North America is a land shaped by elephants. (And pronghorns like the one above � but more on that later.)
10,000 years ago � a blink of the evolutionary eye � members of the elephant family like mammoths and mastodons roamed our grasslands, influencing nearly every plant and animal that lived there.
They were part of one of the greatest assemblages of large mammals to ever roam the earth, with great herds that rivaled those of Africa.
Giant sloths and tapirs, wild camels and horses, cheetahs and lions: All thrived here.
Some conservation biologists believe it�s time to bring them � or at least ecologically similar species � back to America.
Pleistocene rewilding, as this idea is called, is frequently placed in the same wacky camp as UFO investigations and Bigfoot biology.
It is almost impossible for critics, including Conservancy scientists, to discuss it without mentioning Jurassic Park.
But maybe Pleistocene rewilding shouldn�t be so quickly dismissed.
Conservationists frequently point to the ecologically important roles played by fire, rivers, wetlands and climate. Large animals can also play an important role in shaping whole landscapes.
We know, for instance, the prairie is much healthier with bison herds.
Large herds of mammoths, wild horses and camels shaped the landscape dramatically � as the evidence increasingly demonstrates. Connie Barlow�s book The Ghosts of Evolution describes many now marginal plants in North America (like osage orange and honey locust) that evolved to be dispersed by feeding elephants.
The pronghorn � the only true North American Pleistocene mammal to remain � evolved to outrun cheetahs. Today it races only ghost predators.
But didn�t the large Pleistocene mammals �naturally� go extinct?
That�s a subject of some debate, but paleoecologists like Paul Martin present strong evidence that the large mammals were wiped out quickly by the first humans to enter the continent.
The animals had not evolved with humanity like the large animals of Africa, and were quickly eliminated � what is called the overkill hypothesis.
Tapirs and camels belong here as surely as bison and grizzly bears. While many of the Pleistocene species are extinct, ecologically similar species remain. South American camels � like guanacos and vicunas � could easily be reintroduced to grasslands.
Even Indian elephants � yes, elephants � could play the role of mammoths and mastodons.
We don�t have to start big with something like, say, releasing elephants across the continent. That, obviously, is akin to Jurassic Park.
But we could start small. As Joel Berger of the Wildlife Conservation Society writes: �No one can deny historical niches are unfilled today�Why not a humble beginning � say, on a hundred fenced hectares, or a thousand, or even ten thousand?�
Why not? Such a beginning could reveal important new insights about North American ecological processes � and help bring home our continent�s true diversity of large animals.
(Photo: Pronghorn, alone on the range. Credit: Matt Miller.)
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Posted: March 3rd, 2009 under Animals, Conservation Issues, Grasslands, North America, science.
Tags: Animals, bison, cheetah, Connie Barlow, ecology, elephant, Grasslands, Joel Berger, Jurassic Park, mammal, Mammoth, Matt Miller, Pleistocene, pronghorn, rewild, rewilding, species reintroduction, Wildlife Conservation Society
http://blog.nature.org/2009/03/born-to-rewild/?src=home
Pleistocene Rewilding
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
See also: Rewilding Institute
Pleistocene Rewilding promotes the reintroduction of descendants of Pleistocene megafauna, or their close ecological equivalents. Toward the end of the Pleistocene era, between roughly 13,000 to 10,000 years ago, nearly all megafauna of South, Central, North America and Europe had dwindled toward extinction. With the loss of the large herbivores and predator species, niches important for ecosystem functioning were left unoccupied.[1] Paul Martin, the originator of the Pleistocene rewilding idea, claims that present ecological communities in North America do not function appropriately in the absence of megafauna because much of the native flora and fauna evolved under the influence of large mammals. [2] Pleistocene rewilding is an extension of the conservation practice of "rewilding," which involves reintroducing species to areas where they became extinct in recent history (hundreds of years ago, or even less).[3] The fact that Pleistocene rewilding is based upon the dynamics of ecosystems many thousands of years ago lends it a grander breadth, but also makes it much more controversial than rewilding as presently practiced.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleistocene_Rewilding
Well we allready have Elephants in Tennessee so I guess we are ahead of the curve on this.
It looks like the Juagawar is back in the U.S. also because one was radio collared recently in New Mexico after being seen on trail cameras for years.
Locksley
Born To Rewild
Written by Matt Miller
Published on March 3rd, 2009 in Animals, Conservation Issues, Grasslands, North America, science
North America is a land shaped by elephants. (And pronghorns like the one above � but more on that later.)
10,000 years ago � a blink of the evolutionary eye � members of the elephant family like mammoths and mastodons roamed our grasslands, influencing nearly every plant and animal that lived there.
They were part of one of the greatest assemblages of large mammals to ever roam the earth, with great herds that rivaled those of Africa.
Giant sloths and tapirs, wild camels and horses, cheetahs and lions: All thrived here.
Some conservation biologists believe it�s time to bring them � or at least ecologically similar species � back to America.
Pleistocene rewilding, as this idea is called, is frequently placed in the same wacky camp as UFO investigations and Bigfoot biology.
It is almost impossible for critics, including Conservancy scientists, to discuss it without mentioning Jurassic Park.
But maybe Pleistocene rewilding shouldn�t be so quickly dismissed.
Conservationists frequently point to the ecologically important roles played by fire, rivers, wetlands and climate. Large animals can also play an important role in shaping whole landscapes.
We know, for instance, the prairie is much healthier with bison herds.
Large herds of mammoths, wild horses and camels shaped the landscape dramatically � as the evidence increasingly demonstrates. Connie Barlow�s book The Ghosts of Evolution describes many now marginal plants in North America (like osage orange and honey locust) that evolved to be dispersed by feeding elephants.
The pronghorn � the only true North American Pleistocene mammal to remain � evolved to outrun cheetahs. Today it races only ghost predators.
But didn�t the large Pleistocene mammals �naturally� go extinct?
That�s a subject of some debate, but paleoecologists like Paul Martin present strong evidence that the large mammals were wiped out quickly by the first humans to enter the continent.
The animals had not evolved with humanity like the large animals of Africa, and were quickly eliminated � what is called the overkill hypothesis.
Tapirs and camels belong here as surely as bison and grizzly bears. While many of the Pleistocene species are extinct, ecologically similar species remain. South American camels � like guanacos and vicunas � could easily be reintroduced to grasslands.
Even Indian elephants � yes, elephants � could play the role of mammoths and mastodons.
We don�t have to start big with something like, say, releasing elephants across the continent. That, obviously, is akin to Jurassic Park.
But we could start small. As Joel Berger of the Wildlife Conservation Society writes: �No one can deny historical niches are unfilled today�Why not a humble beginning � say, on a hundred fenced hectares, or a thousand, or even ten thousand?�
Why not? Such a beginning could reveal important new insights about North American ecological processes � and help bring home our continent�s true diversity of large animals.
(Photo: Pronghorn, alone on the range. Credit: Matt Miller.)
ShareThis
Posted: March 3rd, 2009 under Animals, Conservation Issues, Grasslands, North America, science.
Tags: Animals, bison, cheetah, Connie Barlow, ecology, elephant, Grasslands, Joel Berger, Jurassic Park, mammal, Mammoth, Matt Miller, Pleistocene, pronghorn, rewild, rewilding, species reintroduction, Wildlife Conservation Society
http://blog.nature.org/2009/03/born-to-rewild/?src=home
Pleistocene Rewilding
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
See also: Rewilding Institute
Pleistocene Rewilding promotes the reintroduction of descendants of Pleistocene megafauna, or their close ecological equivalents. Toward the end of the Pleistocene era, between roughly 13,000 to 10,000 years ago, nearly all megafauna of South, Central, North America and Europe had dwindled toward extinction. With the loss of the large herbivores and predator species, niches important for ecosystem functioning were left unoccupied.[1] Paul Martin, the originator of the Pleistocene rewilding idea, claims that present ecological communities in North America do not function appropriately in the absence of megafauna because much of the native flora and fauna evolved under the influence of large mammals. [2] Pleistocene rewilding is an extension of the conservation practice of "rewilding," which involves reintroducing species to areas where they became extinct in recent history (hundreds of years ago, or even less).[3] The fact that Pleistocene rewilding is based upon the dynamics of ecosystems many thousands of years ago lends it a grander breadth, but also makes it much more controversial than rewilding as presently practiced.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleistocene_Rewilding
Well we allready have Elephants in Tennessee so I guess we are ahead of the curve on this.
It looks like the Juagawar is back in the U.S. also because one was radio collared recently in New Mexico after being seen on trail cameras for years.
Locksley
