Wolves help aspen growth in Yellowstone park

RETURNING wolves to America’s most famous national park has started to restore its lost ecological balance, say scientists.

For the first time in 50 years, young aspen trees are growing again in the northern part of Yellowstone National Park. The recovery of the aspen, a golden deciduous hardwood tree regarded as a vital component of the forest landscape, is thanks to what researchers call “the ecology of fear.”

With wolves around, elk are less willing to venture into areas where for decades they had browsed freely on the young tree shoots. As a result, more of the trees are surviving, which experts believe will have positive knock-on effects throughout the ecosystem.