Wolves Unwittingly Help Yogi and Booboo

纠错

听力音频

听力原文

This is Scientific American 60-Second Science. I'm Sophie Bushwick.Got a minute?
Wolves and bears sound like unlikely allies.
But the resurgence of Yellowstone Park's canine population has helped the bears.
In a berry interesting way.
In the 1990s, people reintroduced wolves to Yellowstone Park, where they had been absent for most of the century.
As their population grew, they began hunting elk, reducing their number.
And with fewer elk snacking on berries, more fruit remained available for bears.
Comparisons of grizzly scat collected in the years before and after the wolves' return showed an increase in the bears' berry consumption,
particularly during the months of July and August.
The study is in the Journal of Animal Ecology.
Fruit can make up fully half of a grizzly's diet as it prepares for hibernation.
But bears and berries aren't the only ones to benefit from wolves.
The canine comeback also boosted the growth of popular elk foods such as aspen and willow trees.
Which proves even a single species can have a beary strong ecosystem effect.
Thanks for the minute, for Scientific American 60-Second Science.I'm Sophie Bushwic.

题目讨论

如果对题目有疑问,欢迎来提出你的问题,热心的小伙伴会帮你解答。