Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory

CSU research sheds new light on wolves' impact on ecosystems in Yellowstone

Willow Trees in YellowstoneNew research by Kristin Marchall finds that the removal of wolves from Yellowstone National Park caused complex changes in ecological processes that cannot be simply reversed by wolf reintroduction alone.

Marshall conducted her research while she was a doctoral student at CSU’s Warner College of Natural Resources in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology. Her research was part of a larger, 10-year experiment conducted by a team of researchers from CSU’s Warner College of Natural Resources that examined the effects of beaver dams and removal of browsing on restoration of willows in Yellowstone. The paper is co-authored by Marshall’s research co-advisors at CSU: David Cooper, senior research scientist in the Department of Forestry and Rangeland Stewardship, and Thompson Hobbs, senior research scientist with the Natural Resource Ecology Lab and professor in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability.

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