Name _____Daniel Williams___________

After reading Lessons from the Wolf create four flow diagrams that illustrate the
situation in Yellowstone as a result of removal and reintroduction of wolves in
Yellowstone. Create two that begin with removed wolves and two that begin with
reintroduced wolves. Make sure each one includes a different combination of
organisms and says if each population increased or decreased. The first one has
been started as an example.
Removed wolves # of elk increased ____trees were dying_____ ______# of
beavers decreased___fish were absent__bears left area____vegetation was gone

Removed wolves _# of wolves increase___ ___decrease in flooding__ __small

increase in vegetationland animals increase in #s __more area for elk___more
food for elk_

Reintroduced wolves __# of elk decreased__ __trees grew__ __# of beavers

increased __fish came back ___bears came back_____vegetation grew_

Reintroduced wolves _fish got bigger__ __trout came back__ __wolf population
reduced _rodent population increased___birds came back___more available
meat____

A keystone species is a species that plays a critical role in maintaining the

structure of an ecological community and whose impact on the community is greater
than would be expected based on its relative abundance or total biomass. Choose at
least one species that may be a keystone species for Yellowstone. Explain your
choice.
____The wolves play a critical role in Yellowstone. Just like water is the key to the everglades, the wolves
are the key to Yellowstone. The increase in all the other populations would have never bounced back if the

wolves were never reintroduced. Plants and trees would have never grown back. All the other species came
back because of the increase in vegetation. _________________________________________________

Describe how this article relates to the lynx/rabbit activity you completed in class.
Explain the importance of the Yellowstone wolf study as it relates to populations.
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Describe, in your own words, the lessons the wolves have brought with them to the
park.
The wolves made me realize how critical they are to an ecosystem. Just by
reintroducing about 35 wolves, everything came back to normal and how it should
be. Its amazing that when the wolves were gone, the elk population completely
ruined the ecosystem and the wolves put it back under control. Fish, beavers, bears,
trees, birds, and rodents could all live again and all these species can continue to
survive just by reintroducing these wolves.
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