Large Mammal Restoration
Ecological And Sociological Challenges In The 21St Century
336 pages
6 x 9
Book Description
Evidence is mounting that top carnivores and other large mammals play a pivotal role in regulating ecosystem health and function, yet those are the species that are most likely to have been eliminated by past human activities. In recent decades, numerous efforts have been undertaken to return some of the species that were previously extirpated on local or regional scales.
Large Mammal Restoration brings together for the first time detailed case studies of those efforts, from restoring elk in Appalachia to returning bison herds to the Great Plains to the much-publicized effort to bring back the gray wolf to Yellowstone National Park. Together these case studies offer important lessons and new ways of thinking for wildlife managers and conservation biologists involved with restoration programs. Sections examine:
- approaches to determining the feasibility of a restoration program
- critical hands-on aspects of restoring large mammals
- obtaining public input into the process and gaining community support for programs
- the potential of some species to return without direct human intervention, and what can be done to facilitate that natural colonization
Large Mammal Restoration brings together in a single volume essential information on the lessons learned from previous efforts, providing an invaluable resource for researchers and students of conservation biology and wildlife management as well as for policymakers, restoration advocates, and others involved with the planning or execution of a restoration program.
Contents
Foreword \ John F. Eisenberg
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Why Restore Large Mammals?
PART I. Feasibility
Chapter 1. Is the Return of the Wolf, Wolverine, and Grizzly Bear to Oregon and California Biologically Feasible?
Chapter 2. Feasibility of Timber Wolf Reintroduction in Adirondack Park
Chapter 3. Rewilding the Sky Islands Region of the Southwest
Chapter 4. Using Public Surveys and GIS to Determine the Feasibility of Restoring Elk to Virginia
PART II. Practice
Chapter 5. Returning Elk to Appalachia: Foiling Murphy's Law
- Case 1: Restoring of White-Tailed Deer in Kentucky: From Absence to Overabundance
Chapter 6. Outcomes of Hard and Soft Releases of Reintroduced Wolves in Central Idaho and the Greater Yellowstone Area
Chapter 7. Health Aspects of Large Mammal Restoration
-Case 2: Health Aspects of Gray Wolf Restoration
Chapter 8. Restoring the Mexican Gray Wolf to the Desert Southwest
PART III. The Human Link
Chapter 9. Translocation of Plains Bison to Wood Buffalo National Park: Economics and Conservation Implications
Chapter 10. Restoration of Grizzly Bears to the Bitterroot Wilderness: The EIS Approach
-Case 3: The Paradigm of Grizzly Bear Restoration in North America
Chapter 11. Mountain Sheep Restoration Through Private/Public Partnership
PART IV. Abetting Natural Colonization
Chapter 12. Black Bear at the Boarder: Natural Recolonization of the Trans-Pecos
Chapter 13. Restorating a Large-Carnivore Corridor in Banff National Park
Chapter 14. Tiger Restoration in Asia: Ecological Theory vs. Sociological Reality
Chapter 15. The Florida Panther: A Flagship for Regional Restoration
-Case 4: Can Manatee Numbers Continue to Grow in a Fast-Developing State?
Chapter 16. The Biotic Province: Minimum Unit for Conserving Biodiversity Large Mammal Restoration: Too Real to Be Possible?
Index
