Good video. You even pronounced the name of the island correctly! I live on the Keweenaw Peninsula of Upper Michigan - home of the headquarters of Isle Royale NP and the home of the Keweenaw National Historical Park. I suggest doing a video about the geology of Isle Royale and the Keweenaw. The billion year old volcanic deposits of the Mid Continent Rift, the native copper, etc would make a great subject for your channel.
What’s also very important to the study is that the island is not only a national park, but a wilderness area. Foot trails only for 99% of it. I spent 3 days backpacking there and it was very refreshing to see so little development of a place that big.
97/98 had a couple of things that caused the moose decline, according to researchers: not as many wolves meant too many moose were competing for not enough forage, there was an outbreak of ticks during the winter, and the winter was just really harsh that year. isleroyalewolf.org/overview/overview/at_a_glance.html I think it's theoretically possible moose could have used an ice bridge to cross as well, but the prevailing theories are that they either swam, or were stocked on the island by humans.
@@NationalParkDiaries also it is important to note that overpopulation of the species also meant that they were more susceptible to diseases. As more dense populations increases the rate of infections.
Shutttt don’t say that, global warming is a religion tough to criticize. You have to agree that every unexplained biological phenomena can be explained by global warning. You don’t have to give explanation for it, it’s a fact.😂😂😂
The story of Isle Royale's wolves is sad and now cruel. We know the fate of the last wolves. It was well studied and documented. We just sentenced wolves to starvation, inbreeding, and diseases. What do we hope to learn that we haven't? The wolves only hope is a 15 mile swim or take chances on the ice. Many have fallen through the ice and died. This seems like a tourist attraction more than scientific study. Down right cruel. Instead of just Moose starving and inbreeding we can have wolves too doing the same. Starving wolves and tourist what could go wrong? On an island how far from medical care?
Isle Royale isn't actually known for wolf tourism. This interaction doesn't draw that many visitors to the park, if any. Isle Royale is one of the least visited NPS units, actually. As much as we may not like it, the boom/bust cycles of wolf/moose predation is a natural process. Humans have, of course, played their role by bringing wolves back to the island, but this is an ecosystem that is adapted to this sort of relationship and we stand to learn a lot about the population dynamics of this island by continuing to study it.
I have been to Isle Royale on two occasions and absolutely adore the place. However, wolves have not "flourished" on the island as marketers suggest, but have struggled to maintain proficient numbers on the island for the time they have populated it. Repopulating the island with wolves is nothing more than a financial decision to attract tourists to the island. The balance on the island has always been skewed with crests and valleys. They died off the island through natural forces, and it should be left that way. If they return on their own, so be it
It's because nature can't take it's course because of human involvement once again i.e global warming. We may not have directly effected the wolf population by hunting them but we did indirectly.
@@deadnorth8333 theirs a island in Canada where they did that with deer since there's no natural predators. The end result is even with the hunting the deer are beginning to push the moose off the island. Only difference is wolves were never on that island and it's basically being destroyed by the deer. So not really a good idea end of the day a natural predator will infinitely do a better job then a human at regulating the enviroment. Believe that islands name is Anticosti Island btw.
@@LavitosExodius There are no deer on Isle Royale just moose and wolves all I was saying is they could make pretty good revenue from a limited moose hunt to control the population on the 45 mile long 8 mile wide island instead of spending millions stocking wolves which many of them cross the ice and head to Minnesota
@@deadnorth8333 I was using said island as and example where you have no natural predators. It could just as easily have been the moose destroying the island since there was no natural predator. Also they are not crossing the ice and heading to Minnesota you seem to have missed the part where they died off because the ice bridge had not been forming thus causing inbreeding. I also seriously doubt it's millions their spending.
An interesting question.. Why is the ocean NOT green? It's not as if there are no predators. Indeed, the ocean is a relatively topheavy ecosystem compared to land. With the majority of biomass mass being scavengers and predators and a minority being photosynthetic. It's not just nutrient poverty. While that explains low primary productivity, it fails to adequately explain low biomass. Why does everything in the ocean quickly end up eaten, while most land plants not?
If you want to know more about wolves and the political winds they face, check out the book "American Wolf" by Nate Blakeslee. It's a fabulous read covering the reintroduction of wolves in Yellowstone NP.
So, as per usual, us humans decided these eco systems and the flora/fauna had to fit in a nice clearly defined criteria. Buy the reality is anything but neat. It seems like both hypothesis are right and wrong. There isn't really a top or bottom of the triangle. It's actually a tetrahedron and all 4 facets are intertwined and equally impact each other.
It has been painfully obvious in many areas of New York that the overabundance of deer and the lack of predators like wolves have harmed the ability of native plant species to grow, with many forests instead overrun with invasive species. Some may think it's a numbers game and we can replace wolves with hunters but so much of the benefit to the plant community comes from wolves making the deer move and change their patters of foraging. This has been shown in Yellowstone where elk avoided the riverbanks only when wolves were present.
Yep, hunters will never be a replacement for true ecological relationships. I respect their role in the conservation landscape, but we absolutely have to restore predator-prey relationships for proper ecosystem health.
@@NationalParkDiaries I know there gray wolf but what sub species you got the extinct Great Plains wolf, Vancouver island wolf, Alexander archipelago wolf, the northern Rocky Mountain wolf from the Snake plateau and the Mexican gray wolf of the Colorado Rockies & plateau for example
Alright, so I just went down the rabbit hole on this one. Best I can tell, the wolves of Isle Royale are considered Eastern Timber Wolves (Canis lupus lycaon), BUT there is still some debate over whether or not to consider them a subspecies of gray wolves or an entirely different species. Here's a CRS Report (crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46184) that provides some context and a journal article that tries to make sense of things (digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1344&context=usgsnpwrc). Hope this helps!
@@NationalParkDiaries ok thanks for your research you are amazing but eastern wolves are coyotes now I don’t have time to waste my time on this wolf because they’re coyotes there are more real wolf subspecies out there that’s worth the time and research to save them cus coyotes are too common there not going extinct we need to focus on the pure wolves that are going extinct out north west and north east of continental u.s. Like the Labrador wolf (Canis lupus labradorius) and the Newfoundland wolf (C. l. beothucus)
@@joshuanaalchiiho-chunk4623 Happy to help, but I have to disagree. Regardless of their taxonomy, I think these wolves are worth protecting - as are all the others. On Isle Royale (like other places where wolves are present) they play a key role in maintaining a balanced ecosystem. Especially now that climate change has reduced the frequency of ice bridge formation, protecting Isle Royale's wolves will be crucial.
And now we have wolves all over the state. But don’t tell the DNR because to them, there aren’t any wolves, bobcats, or cougars in Michigan and we don’t want them. I will gladly ruin a hunt just to gut shot one
A big problem is people who collect xeriscape plants trigger them to become invasive species. In South Africa new cacti species have become invasive. Likewise in the Southwest South African species have become invasive.
I'm just going to start telling poeple i'm a primary consumer instead of a vegan. That should throw them for a loop. then i can explain how effecient I am with my energy consumption
