Word: ecosystems
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...ironies of the Persian Gulf spill, which some experts predicted would destroy the area's ecosystem, is that certain parts seem cleaner and healthier now than they were before the Iraqis dumped their crude. According to a study published last August in the journal Nature, the levels of petroleum hydrocarbons in sediments and some mollusks from Bahrain in June 1991 were lower than those recorded in prewar surveys. Scientists suspect that the reason for this startling finding is that during and after the war, tanker traffic in the gulf was cut back. "Normal" oil pollution, largely from tankers clearing their...
Conservationists have long bemoaned the absence of the wolf in the otherwise complete Yellowstone ecosystem. Extending from northwestern Wyoming into southern Montana and Idaho, it is the largest expanse of virtually unspoiled wilderness in the Lower 48 states. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 requires the U.S. government to take steps to bring back the wolf, but a succession of plans to reintroduce the animal to Yellowstone and other parts of the West have become mired in controversy. Even though a majority of Westerners favor the return of wolves, formidable opposition comes from local ranchers and hunting outfitters who fear...
Conservationists have lobbied for years to reintroduce gray wolves to Yellowstone National Park. The predators, they say, are an important part of the ecosystem, thoughtlessly wiped out some 60 years ago. No way, say nearby ranchers: wolves are vermin that gobble up livestock and profits. But the terms of the debate have changed. A hunter has shot one of a pack of five animals just south of the park. If they are wolves, and not wolf-dog hybrids, they probably migrated from Montana. The conventional scientific wisdom said they would make the trip eventually -- just not this soon...
...typical landscape might resemble the Netherlands: a crowded, monotonous tableau in which no aspect of nature is free from human manipulation. Other analysts look to the history of island cultures because they tend to reveal how the environment and humans respond when burgeoning populations put stress on an isolated ecosystem...
...hectares (500,000 acres) of prime fish and wildlife habitat, either by purchasing the land outright or by buying up the rights to exploit its resources. The advocates argue that since little more can be done to restore areas damaged by the spill, protecting the region's ecosystem from further harm is the next best option. Much of the land is privately held old- growth forest already marked for logging -- some of it, thanks to the state's complex land-allotment system, actually inside state and national parks, including Kenai Fjords National Park, the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge and Kachemak...