A trophic cascade is a chain reaction that ripples through a food web when a predator population changes, indirectly reshaping prey numbers, vegetation and even the physical landscape several links down the chain. Aldo Leopold first described the mechanism from mountain slopes overgrazed by deer after wolves were exterminated, and Nelson Hairston, Frederick Smith and Lawrence Slobodkin brought the concept into mainstream ecology in 1960. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
PeriodicityNot periodic; unfolds over years to decades as each trophic level responds in turn 1 ScaleFrom a single food web up to an entire ecosystem or landscape 1 First DescribedMechanism described by Aldo Leopold; concept named and formalized by Nelson Hairston, Frederick E. Smith and Lawrence B. Slobodkin, 1960 1 Connections
Demonstrated By
Wolves are the textbook top predator whose removal and return triggers the cascade.
Source Trophic Cascade (Wikipedia)
Why this is disputed. The popular narrative credits 1995 wolf reintroduction with a cascading recovery of aspen, willow and beaver, but ecologists caution the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is too open and complex to serve as a clean textbook example, and some changes (creek incision blocking willow recovery) have not reversed even where grazing pressure has.
Source Trophic Cascade (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Trophic Cascade (Wikipedia)
WikipediaQuote
Trophic cascades are powerful indirect interactions that can control entire ecosystems.
Dissenting Readings (1 dissenting reading)
Demonstrated By: Yellowstone
The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is too complex and too open to outside influences to serve as a clean example of a straightforward trophic cascade; some changes attributed to wolves, such as blocked willow recovery from creek incision, have not reversed even where elk browsing pressure has eased.
A dissenting reading, from a reviewerTrophic Cascade (Wikipedia), Wikipedia
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