RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Wolf Reintroduction: Ecological Management and the Substitution Problem
JF Ecological Restoration
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 221
OP 228
DO 10.3368/er.32.3.221
VO 32
IS 3
A1 Hermans, Adam Pérou
A1 Lee, Alexander
A1 Dixon, Lydia
A1 Hale, Benjamin
YR 2014
UL http://er.uwpress.org/content/32/3/221.abstract
AB Elk overgrazing in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), understood largely to be a consequence of wolf extirpation, poses not only a practical problem, but also several conceptual hurdles for park managers. The current RMNP ecosystem management plan addresses overgrazing by culling elk and fencing off riparian environments. This “functionalist” view effectively substitutes the role of wolves in the ecosystem with human intervention, and implicitly conflates the role or function of wolves with wolves themselves. In this paper, we argue that such substitution logic presents a conceptual problem for restoration. Seeking a resolution for this “substitution problem,” we distinguish between “reparative restoration” and “replacement restoration.” Where reparative restoration seeks to repair damage, replacement restoration seeks more aptly to replace the function of one ecological component with another. We suggest that in many cases reparative restoration is preferable to replacement restoration, and when characterized as such, may serve to better justify wolf reintroduction.