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Trophic Rewilding - Coggle Diagram
Trophic Rewilding
Ecosystems around the world are being negatively impacted by humans by way of climate change induced by humans or other impacts such as the accidental introduction of invasive species.
Rewilding is a restoration effort that seeks to improve an ecosystems ability to self-regulate by restoring ecological processes and reducing human impacts.
It does not seek to restore past conditions, merely improve current conditions
Trophic rewilding focuses on strategizing ecological restoration from the perspective of the complexity of trophic levels.
They define trophic complexity as the diversity of larger species found towards the top of the food chain and the top down trophic effects they create.
Species at higher trophic levels are often occupy important niches within and ecosystem, an have many connections within the local food web.
Restoration of this trophic complexity goal of trophic rewilding. Done so by introducing species of higher trophic levels that will cause a cascade of effects in the ecosystem in a top-down fashion, ultimately promoting an ecosystems ability to self regulate.
Larger species have been a target of harmful human activities affecting their wild populations for the last 50,000 to 100,000.
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This can result in reduced geodiversity and defaunation (extinction of animal populations within a given region).
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By the late 21st century, novel ecosystems will be normal due to increasing levels of atmospheric CO2.
Novel ecosystems differ from wild ecosystems in that they are semi-natural, and their present species composition or ecological functioning is historically different. All influenced by human activities.
Wild ecosystems that remain are smaller, see increased fragmentation, and have had changes in key process, such as fire regimes. Fire regimes is the natural pattern of wildfires, which some ecosystems depend on wildfires to promote biodiversity.
Ultimately, these too will become novel ecosystems.
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