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Strange Days on Planet Earth: Predators
1. On Lake Guri in Venezuela, researchers have been tracking & treating changes on a group of man-made islands that were formed over two decades ago from a hydro-electric project. What were some of their findings??
2. What's out of whack on iguana island?
3. How did the ants, iguanas and monkeys become so destructive?
4. How do the tortoises indicate change?
5. What is fragmentation?
6. What is fragmenting the USA?
7. Why don't we just bring back predators?
8. What clues indicated that Yellowstone was out of kilter?
9. What was missing from the banks of the river?
10. How many critters were around 150 years ago? (birds, beavers, bison)
11. How has that changed now?
12. How old are the aspens?
13. What happened to the wolves between 1883 and 1930?
14. What are the impacts of the wolves? (the kills, the elk, the beavers)
15. What is the problem with the wolf reintroduction?
16. Did the restoration (re-establishment) of wolves make a difference in the health of Yellowstone’s ecosystem? Defend your answer as to why it made a difference or not.
17. Ranchers outside of Yellowstone National Park now have to deal with wolves with the support of US Fish & Wildlife Service. Some wolves are developing a taste for cattle and sheep outside the park. Do you think these wolves should be put down (exterminated)? Explain your opinion.
18. What changes are they seeing in the Caribbean?
19. Clues to predators’ significance are beginning to emerge in the Caribbean Ocean. The deaths of coral reefs are associated with the absence of top predatory fish. Explain the correlation:
20. What critters are at the top of the food web?
21. Are pests in our subdivisions (raccoons, squirrels, armadillos, moles), the decline of coral reefs in our oceans, and the vanishing of trees all linked to the disappearance of predators? Defend (support) your opinion.