Yellowstone Lamar Wolves
Lamar Valley, Yellowstone NP, Wyoming, USA · North America · mountain_alpine
About this place
Track Canis lupus apex trophic cascades reshaping elk foraging, riparian willow height, and beaver wetlands.
For kids: See how howling wolf families help riverside willow trees, dam-building beavers, and songbirds return!
Yellowstone Lamar Wolves · 360° Habitat Camp
What to look for
- Rebounding streamside willows — Salix & Populus browse release. Locate the riparian willow corridor released from stationary elk browsing
- Beaver dam wetland pocket — Castor canadensis ecosystem engineering. Centre the floodplain channel where beaver dams store groundwater
- Sagebrush rendezvous ridge — Canis lupus acoustic & scent vantage. Scan the elevated glacial moraine used by wolf packs to survey ungulate herds
Source: Estes et al. (2011), Science; Ripple & Beschta (2012), Biological Conservation — Apex wolf trophic cascades in Yellowstone.
Ask together: How can a wolf pack that never eats wood or builds dams end up creating shady ponds for fish and frogs?
Field quiz
Kids' question: How did returning wolves help beavers build more cozy ponds in Yellowstone?
- Kept elk moving so riverside willow trees could grow tall
- Carried wooden logs down from the mountains
- Dug deep canals with their front paws
Answer
Kept elk moving so riverside willow trees could grow tall
Adults' question: Which behavioural mechanism initiates Yellowstone's riparian trophic cascade under wolf presence?
- Ecology of vigilance shifting elk foraging away from sight-restricted stream bottoms
- Complete local extirpation of all grazing ungulates
- Direct nitrogen fertilization from wolf fur shedding
- Seed dispersal of willow catkins inside wolf paw pads
Answer
Ecology of vigilance shifting elk foraging away from sight-restricted stream bottoms
360° photo: Amanda Sweeney, Public domain
See it live: Live check: Ambassador Gray Wolf Pack
- By day
- Gray wolves trotting through pines, play-bowing, & resting on boulders Observe tail carriage and muzzle-licking greetings that maintain peaceful social cohesion within the ambassador pack.
- By night
- Nocturnal pack patrols, eyeshine in moonlight, & chorus howls Crepuscular and nocturnal activity peaks align with rod-dominated retinas and a reflective tapetum lucidum.
Other language: Русский