It was nice to see this report from the Pt Reyes Lighthouse. I of course guessed on of the species to be considered but was amused by the others. Say hi to Rick!
Could new species benefit Point Reyes?
A new report sponsored by the conservation group Turtle Island Restoration Network investigates the reintroduction of seven other mammal species to the park. Written by Alexis Evripidou, a wildlife rehabilitation technician, and Richard Lanman, a historical ecologist, the paper explores the possibility of returning Point Reyes to something closer to its wilder roots.
“We’ve had this wildly successful rewilding at Point Reyes,” Dr. Lanman said. “Point Reyes seems like the perfect place for future efforts—it is a safe place, with a really great climate for grazers and many other species, and, surrounded by water on three sides, it’s almost an island.”
Water being the operative point. Knowing how dry point Reyes can get I sure wish they had a helper for that water.
The report evaluates the cases for reintroducing the sea otter, beaver, pronghorn, Douglas ground squirrel, Humboldt marten, fisher and porcupine, most of which were endemic to Point Reyes and have since disappeared. It draws on existing research and a survey of nine ecology and wildlife experts who ranked species across 12 criteria, including ecosystem value, economic value, habitat suitability, climate resilience and the risk of human-wildlife conflict.
“We have to keep everything in balance,” Dr. Lanman said. “Sometimes species that we don’t think are very useful—which is Aldo Leopold’s point, I think—play some crucial role, they provide some ecosystem service.” The disappearance of any species ripples across an ecosystem, up and down the food chain and into the landscape itself. Reintroduction, too, sets ripples in motion.
I like the idea of sea otter But how do you know they’d stay put? I don’t think I ever saw even a broken sea urchin shell at Pt Reyes.
Of the seven candidates, sea otters and beavers rose to the top as keystone species—named for the outsized roles they play in their ecosystems, producing unexpected and far-reaching consequences for the environment.
Sea otters, once bountiful but virtually wiped out by fur traders, are critical to the health of kelp forests. They prey on sea urchins that otherwise overgraze kelp, allowing underwater forests to grow and shelter diverse marine life and absorb CO2 from the atmosphere. Today’s California sea otter population is believed to descend from roughly 50 animals that evaded capture along the Big Sur coast. Despite growing to a few thousand by the mid-2010s, very few have made their way north of the Golden Gate.
Beavers, too, once thrived across the American West before being decimated by trappers who sold their pelts for felted hats. Beavers are ecosystem engineers, changing the landscape more than any other non-human animal in North America. By felling trees, building dams and reshaping waterways, beavers enrich fish habitat, maintain flows during drought, provide wet firebreaks, improve water quality, increase carbon sequestration and generally enhance habitat for riparian plants and animals.
I know Marin wants beavers, And it usually gets what it wants. Never mind that it has had beavers in my lifetime. It’s a hard place for beavers to get naturally.
In the park, beavers’ return could be transformative for the federally endangered coho salmon that spawn in Olema and Pine Gulch Creeks. One study conducted in Oregon found that beaver ponds constituted just 2.5 percent of the total habitat in a given watershed but produced more than half of its coho smolts in a single year.
Of course, species introduction can have unintended ecological consequences—including extirpating other local species, spreading pests and parasites, and exacerbating human-wildlife conflict.
Yes. Unintended consequences. Like things could get a lot better for a whole lot of living things.
