Grey Wolf Research Paper

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A keystone species are an extremely important factor for keeping diversity in an ecosystem. When lost they can have detrimental effect on the ecosystem they are inhabiting. These include and diversity decrease and the ecosystem 's structure is significantly structured(Campbell). It has a strong control over the community due to its ecological role or niche(Reece). One of the main keystone species that is regenerating is the grey wolf or the Canis lupus. After many years the wolf is being reintroduced to the Yellowstone national park, to be brought back into the ecosystem(Stevens). The grey wolf effects its ecosystem in many ways. When the wolves started to repopulate and grow in numbers the amount of deer, elk and Moses started to drop. Most …show more content…

The larger the wolf population gets, the larger their appetite will get. This will cause more deaths in a animals such as deer, elk and moose. (Chadwick) The environment will not have sufficient resources to keep the wolves alive and thriving so the rest of the populations will start to decrease as well. Their competition levels will rise and the other animals such as bears, cougars and coyotes will have trouble competing and finding resources. (Stevens) This in line with disease can cause a detrimental decrease in the wolf population. Other things that can affect the population include precision rates, natural disasters and soil fertility.(Chadwick). As the wolf population decreases their is a loss in all of their roles that were mentioned above. These include a loss of diversity, a lack of the damn and thus a pond, and an increases an increase in the Elk population. With a decrease of wolf population also comes a later increase in population. As this happens an equilibrium will form between the wolves and the elk, that will cause them to keep each other intact. As wolf population goes down, an increase in elk happens. As the increase in elk happens a increase in wolves will occur. When the wolf population increases the elk population shall decrease, so on and so …show more content…

This is significant in certain plants such as the Kudzu plant. Kudzu plants are also an invasive species that can cause damage throughout the ecosystem. The effect the Kudzu bug has on the environment is dependent on what it eats. Not only do they eat the soy bean plants, but they eat the stems and leaves of many different legumes . This can lead to extreme reductions in soybean growth. (Kudzu Bug). The bugs will gather in large groups and attack a host plant. This is done by sucking the sap out of it weakening and stunting the growth of the plant. If the group does enough damage it can cause extreme defoliation. In China there had been reports of up to a 50 percent loss in their soybean population and production. This is due to the Kudzu bugs and the effects it has on the host plant while sucking the sap. It can cause seed yield loss, improperly developed pods, and undersized seeds. (Invasive Insect). In the winter they will nestle in certain light colored areas that are heated, and stay their until spring. Like other skin bugs the Kudzu plant also produces a foul oder, which most likely can be used to spot them. (Kudzu

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