Animals such as wolves, sea otters, and sharks exert a disproportionate influence on their environment; dramatic ecological consequences can result when they are removed from'or returned to'an ecosystem.
In The Wolf's Tooth, scientist and author Cristina Eisenberg explores the concept of ""trophic cascades"" and the role of top predators in regulating ecosystems. Her fascinating and wide-ranging work provides clear explanations of the science surrounding keystone predators and considers how this notion can help provide practical solutions for restoring ecosystem health and functioning.
Eisenberg examines both general concepts and specific issues, sharing accounts from her own fieldwork to illustrate and bring to life the ideas she presents. She considers how resource managers can use knowledge about trophic cascades to guide recovery efforts, including how this science can be applied to move forward the bold vision of rewilding the North American continent. In the end, the author provides her own recommendations for local and landscape-scale applications of what has been learned about interactive food webs.
At their most fundamental level, trophic cascades are powerful stories about ecosystem processes'of predators and their prey, of what it takes to survive in a landscape, of the flow of nutrients. The Wolf's Tooth is the first book to focus on the vital connection between trophic cascades and restoring biodiversity and habitats, and to do so in a way that is accessible to a diverse readership.
Acknowledgments Introduction: Visitors from the North
PART I. Web of Life Chapter 1. Patterns in an Ecosystem Chapter 2. Living in a Landscape of Fear: Trophic Cascades Mechanisms Chapter 3. Origins: Aquatic Cascades Chapter 4. Why the Earth Is Green: Terrestrial Cascades Chapter 5. The Long View: Old-Growth Rain Forest Food Webs
PART II. Mending the Web Chapter 6. All Our Relations: Trophic Cascades and the Diversity of Life Chapter 7. Creating Landscapes of Hope: Trophic Cascades and Ecological Restoration Chapter 8. Finding Common Ground: Trophic Cascades and Ecosystem Management
Epilogue: Lessons from 763 Notes Glossary Index
"The Wolf's Tooth takes a venerable but misunderstood concept in ecology and renders it fresh, clear, and vital. In elegant prose drawn from her own deep experience in the field, Cristina Eisenberg has written a genuinely important contribution to the conservation biology canon. Besides showing how trophic cascades actually work, and how top predators can help rewild North America, her book is a fine primer for both theoretical and practical ecology."
