Scientific Approach

Science leads the way in facing today's challenges.

Sound science has been the foundation of the Wildlands Network since it was founded nearly 20 years ago. Wildands Network conservation scientists perceived that long-term successful protection of nature and its inherent natural systems requires understanding the landscape as a whole and designing conservation reserve networks that are connected and large enough to maintain ecological processes, not just scenic areas. Thus, the companion concepts of continental-scale conservation and connectivity were born of science generated by Wildlands Network.

Science went on to shape Wildlands Network’s role as conservation biologists developed Wildlands Network Designs (WND’s), a comprehensive approach to conservation planning.  Further, the critical role of keystone species (a.k.a. highly interactive species, top predators or Wildlands Network Room to Roam© species) in maintaining ecological balance was identified and shared with the conservation community. 

The theory of “trophic cascades” then emerged from the scientific understanding of highly interactive species. Trophic cascades occur when predators in a food web suppress the abundance of their prey, thereby releasing the next lower trophic level from predation. For example, if a predator like a wolf is removed from the landscape, its prey, such as elk, will increase in numbers.  Elk, in turn, then increase their browsing of willow, aspen and other plants, driving down the abundance of those plants.  As those plants decline, so too do species such as beaver and songbirds which are dependent on those species.  Even fish can be affected by loss of shade from aspen and willow -- water becomes too warm for cold water species like trout to tolerate.

This theory has stimulated new research in many areas of ecology. Trophic cascades might also be important for understanding the effects of removing top predators from food webs through hunting and fishing activities.

Today, science continues to plays a vital role in our work as we apply climate disruption  modeling to our planning maps and share scientific best practices with our network partners.