The re-introduction of wolves in a US National Park in the
mid-1990s is not helping quaking aspens (Populus tremuloides) to
become re-established, as many researchers hoped. In a study
published in the journal Ecology showed that the population of
wolves in Yellowstone Park was not deterring elks from eating
young trees and saplings. It was assumed that the presence of
wolves would create a “landscape of fear”, resulting in no-go
areas for elks. Researchers writing in the Ecological Society of
America’s (ESA) journal said that the aspens were not
regenerating well in the park as a result of the elk eating the
young trees. However, they added that the conventional wisdom
suggested that as the wolves were predators of the elk, it was
thought that the elk would eventually learn to avoid high-risk
areas in which the wolves were found. This would then allow
plants in those areas – such as aspen – to grow big enough
without being eaten and killed by the elk. And in the long-term,
the thinking went, the habitat woul