In praise of Carnivores

Is it not just the same old, same old. Only surprised GM never wrote it (atleast never seen jis name on it, althou his articles are highlighted below it)

I was under the belief that both lions and leopards were actually doing very well in many parts of africa and in some famous game reserves they're actually importing prey animals to keep the predators at inflated densities so the safari folk can take lots of nice photos.

Wot will happen to yellowstone in 40-50 years time??
From wot i can gather all these open spaces are now re-gening as less browsing/grazing pressure. All great (JMT would be very happy)

But wot happens in 40-50 years these trees will have all grown at exact same time so all same age, u will end up with an imprentable thicket, any birds/mammals that also living in either open spaces or along the marigns (which the majority of animals will).will soon find the ecosystem no longer suits them and will ove or die/starve

Look at a grouse moor/heather, a poorly/unmanaged moor will have all its heather old and rank and pretty poor boidiversity, but look at a well managed moor where it is all a mix of ages with a nice comprimise between cover, food and healthy heather.
Not that different to trees really just a far shorter rotation say 10-15 year cyle,whereas with tree


It is very easy to stand up and make all these glorious claims the now, but things are not balanced, they could very easily swing to far the oppisate way towards trees and lose a mass of boidiversity, very few animals like a mono culture even a natural 1.
Until they find a steady equilibrum u don't really know if its a succes or not.
Didn't seem to be any actual references to any 'real' scientific data
 
But wot happens in 40-50 years these trees will have all grown at exact same time so all same age, u will end up with an imprentable thicket, any birds/mammals that also living in either open spaces or along the marigns (which the majority of animals will).will soon find the ecosystem no longer suits them and will ove or die/starve

Look at a grouse moor/heather, a poorly/unmanaged moor will have all its heather old and rank and pretty poor boidiversity, but look at a well managed moor where it is all a mix of ages with a nice comprimise between cover, food and healthy heather.
Not that different to trees really just a far shorter rotation say 10-15 year cyle,whereas with tree
- countryboy

Quite true. That is what you see in the pulpwood pine barrens of Georgia and South Carolina, or the Oregon, where trees are clear cut and new ones planted in rows, to all be snipped off 25 years later. A farm with pastures and rotated crops, and mixed forest, where mature trees are harvested for lumber and furniture grade boards and veneer, and the small openings left to be naturally reseeded, will support all kinds of birds and animals, and lots of them.

A lot of National Parks, operating under the mythical Theory of the Balance of Nature, suffer ruinous invasions of non-native species with on hunting to control them, floods, huge fires, etc. The so-called experts will claim that is part of some 100-year cycle or whatever, but even if their guess is close to truth, it does no good for several generations of taxpayers who are unable to enjoy it, and that undermines public support for wild places.
 
Quite an intresting read, seems the americain indians had a fairly similar system to how many of the South americain tribes living in rainforest also have of slash and burn and creating open spaces but also rotating these spaces before they have raped the area.

Sort of funny how vastly different people evolved similar land use for similar ecosystems.

Thats the big problem is in 100yrs time there is no one around to tell them 'i told u so' and wot ever animals u have lost are gne and its amajor problem to get them back if possible at all.
A little bit of everything is the annswer but some of these acadenmic/conservation types just don't get it
 
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