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15 votes
15 votes
Is the reintroduction of a species healthy for an ecosystem?

User Sudhir Kumar
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1 Answer

12 votes
12 votes

Answer:

Lack of genetic diversity can lead to problems such as genetic diseases that can be passed onto future generations and threaten the species' survival.

So I would say no reintroduction is not healthy.

Step-by-step explanation:

First, large carnivore reintroduction has to initiate a predictable trophic cascade -- that is, where carnivores reduce the abundance of herbivores, which, in turn, increases the abundance of the plants they feed on. Second, the magnitude of that trophic cascade has to push an ecosystem back to a previous state.

Reintroduction of large carnivores might not affect the ecosystem much at all. Or the ecosystem might veer off in a new, unpredictable direction due to changes to the ecosystem or biological communities that occurred when large carnivores were absent. This is particularly likely in today's era of climate change and invasive species, the researchers say.

User Delora
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