Large carnivores are being globally reintroduced with the goal of restoring ecological interactions. However, the extent that competitive interactions are restored within communities is often unclear. In a before–after study within Isle Royale National Park (in the US state of Michigan), we quantified the spatial, behavioral, trophic, and demographic effects of the reintroduction of a large carnivore (gray wolf; Canis lupus) on meso-carnivores (red fox; Vulpes vulpes) and small carnivores (American marten; Martes americana). The wolf reintroduction produced a phase-dependent pulse perturbation: wolves constrained the distribution of foxes, thereby benefiting martens, yet foxes altered their behavior, notably using human-provided resource subsidies (campsites and food) more frequently, which buffered demographic consequences. Once wolf packs coalesced, all observed changes subsided, and competitive interactions returned to their pre-wolf values. Our results show that some predicted—and often desired—consequences of large carnivore reintroductions may not be permanent due to the transitory dynamics of social carnivores and the presence of humans, even within a “pristine wilderness”.
Originally developed for application to ecology courses for undergraduate majors, the Four-Dimensional Ecology Education (4DEE) Framework offers possibilities for adaptation to courses with ecology content for many other audiences. Recognizing the extraordinary range of classroom contexts and constraints, we developed some general, flexible recommendations and approaches to guide instructors in adapting the 4DEE Framework for an array of non-major audiences and classroom context needs. Our hope is that 4DEE-aligned courses for non-majors will provide these students with greater appreciation of ecology and inspire them to use their knowledge to address many critical environmental issues in their personal and professional lives. Many of our recommendations likely apply to natural science, engineering, and math majors as well. We encourage more ecologists to embrace teaching non-majors courses as a response to the urgent need to improve ecological literacy for everyone.
Autonomous sensor networks providing real-time data are growing in popularity with community scientists due to instant availability of high-frequency data. What role does this monitoring play in watershed assessment alongside agency-run monitoring programs? How accessible, interoperable, and reusable are the data for other researchers? We compared a community science-led stream monitoring network—EnviroDIY—in the Delaware River Basin, in which more than 50 watershed organizations have deployed more than 100 stations monitoring temperature, electric conductivity, depth, and sometimes turbidity, with the Basin's US Geological Survey (USGS) stream gauge network. The EnviroDIY network (n = 124) complemented the USGS network (n = 102) by monitoring sites with different watershed sizes and land-use distributions. Although data were accessible and interoperable using a web data portal, community scientists had difficulty sharing metadata that would enable data reuse outside this project and they required support analyzing these large datasets to understand threats to watershed conditions. We address those needs here with a conceptual framework for interpreting data and communicating results.
Image credits: ©N Gloríková
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