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- Title
Wolf Reintroduction: Ecological Management and the Substitution Problem.
- Authors
Hermans, Adam Pérou; Lee, Alexander; Dixon, Lydia; Hale, Benjamin
- Abstract
Elk overgrazing in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), understood largely to be a consequence of wolf extirpation, poses not only a practical problem, but also several conceptual hurdles for park managers. The current RMNP ecosystem management plan addresses overgrazing by culling elk and fencing off riparian environments. This "functionalist" view effectively substitutes the role of wolves in the ecosystem with human intervention, and implicitly conflates the role or function of wolves with wolves themselves. In this paper, we argue that such substitution logic presents a conceptual problem for restoration. Seeking a resolution for this "substitution problem," we distinguish between "reparative restoration" and "replacement restoration." Where reparative restoration seeks to repair damage, replacement restoration seeks more aptly to replace the function of one ecological component with another. We suggest that in many cases reparative restoration is preferable to replacement restoration, and when characterized as such, may serve to better justify wolf reintroduction.
- Subjects
ROCKY Mountain National Park (Colo.); ENVIRONMENTAL ethics; ELK ecology; WOLVES; RESTORATION ecology
- Publication
Ecological Restoration, 2014, Vol 32, Issue 3, p221
- ISSN
1543-4060
- Publication type
Opinion
- DOI
10.3368/er.32.3.221