The Wolf's Tooth: Keystone Predators, Trophic Cascades, and Biodiversity

Scientist and author Cristina Eisenberg presents a fascinating and wide-ranging look at the dramatic ecological consequences of predator removal (and return) as she explores the concept of 'trophic cascades' and the role of top predators in regulating ecosystems. She shows how and why animals such as wolves, sea otters, and sharks exert such a disproportionate influence on their environment, and considers how this notion can help provide practical solutions for restoring ecosystem health and functioning. Eisenberg examines both general concepts and specific issues, sharing accounts from her own fieldwork to illustrate and bring to life the ideas she presents. She considers how resource managers can use knowledge about trophic cascades to guide recovery efforts, including how this science can be applied to move forward the bold vision of rewilding the North American continent. In the end, the author provides her own recommendations for local and landscape-scale applications of what has been learned about interactive food webs. At their most fundamental level, trophic cascades are powerful stories about ecosystem processes - of predators and their prey, of what it takes to survive in a landscape, of the flow of nutrients. "The Wolf's Tooth" is the first book to focus on the vital connection between trophic cascades and restoring biodiversity and habitats, and to do so in a way that is accessible to a diverse readership.