The return of wolves has dramatically affected Yellowstone’s ecosystem, causing a

chain effect on plants and animals such as willow, beavers, elks, bears, …As wolfs
returned Yellowstone, the population of bears became to expand significantly. Elks
were one of the reasons. The absence of wolfs led to a growth in elk’s population and
therefore shortened the quantity of willows, a crucial food source for both elks and
beavers in winter. Today, with three times as many elk than in 1968, willow stands are
more robust. The reason for this paradox is that pressure from the wolf make it
impossible for elk to browse the willow intensely. A research, conducted by U.S
Geological Survey in Fort Collins, found that willow, which is not bitten by the elk,
reproduces much faster than the other willow. Furthermore, there are maybe other
factors contributing to the rebound of Yellowstone’s beavers such as 1988 fires, drought,
drier winters, …The absence and return of the wolf provided scientists unique
opportunity to study the effect of a key species to the whole ecosystem. Elk move into
heavy timber when wolves are around, but return to grassy, open meadows the wolves
go away. However, an unforeseen result is that with the presence of wolf, elk tend to go
with a small group to being more vigilant. Researchers from University of California
has showed that a lot of animals, such as bears, ravens, eagles and magpies, gain
benefits from wolf killing elk as wolf-kill elf is an important food source for these
animals.