Gray Wolf Reintroduction
Yellowstone National Park
Producers (plants, as well as some protista and bacteria) provide the Yellowstone ecosystem with the fuel (sugar created by photosynthesis) to sustain a wide assemblage of life forms. Some of the Yellowstone herbivores - elk, bison, deer, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, mountain goats and beaver - provide food for wolves and other predators.
An ecological pyramid represents a model for how energy flows through an ecosystem and, thus provides information on how a community is structured. As energy travels from one feeding level (trophic level) to the next, less energy becomes available since some is used to sustain life at each level, and some is lost as heat. [Thus, the pyramid decreases in size.] The ecological pyramid shown below illustrates how wolves fit into the Yellowstone ecosystem's flow of energy. They enter at the top and like some other carnivorous species (e.g., grizzly bears, mountain lions, coyotes), they are described as apex or top-level consumers.
An ecological pyramid represents a model for how energy flows through an ecosystem and, thus provides information on how a community is structured. As energy travels from one feeding level (trophic level) to the next, less energy becomes available since some is used to sustain life at each level, and some is lost as heat. [Thus, the pyramid decreases in size.] The ecological pyramid shown below illustrates how wolves fit into the Yellowstone ecosystem's flow of energy. They enter at the top and like some other carnivorous species (e.g., grizzly bears, mountain lions, coyotes), they are described as apex or top-level consumers.
Producers
Herbivores
Carnivores
Ecological Pyramid
Ecological Pyramid
Credits: Elk, Wolf (Dorling Kindersley)
