Predators-Group4

“Deep in the wilds of Venezuela, the natural order is being turned inside out. Miles of verdant forest and Savannah have given way to small and scattered islands. Some of these islands are now overrun by bands of voracious howler monkeys, a glut of iguanas and hordes of ravenous ants. What is driving this bizarre transformation? A team of scientists believes that life here has run amok in large part because its top predators are gone. Similarly, the majestic wilderness of Yellowstone National Park is also showing signs of change that some scientists trace to the depletion of natural predators. Familiar and revered forests have vanished. Researchers are linking these forest losses to the expulsion of the gray wolf some seventy years ago. In Venezuela and around the world, experts are learning that predators seem to play a crucial role in the structure and function of entire ecosystems. When the predators disappear, the consequences can be dramatic. If predators are so vital, should they — and can they — be brought back?” Picture 1 grouper Picture 2: White tip shark; Picture 3: Reef shark Picture 4: St. Lucia reef grouper Picture 5) The video of the things that are happening in St Lucia bay explains the troubles of the depopulation of fish, in the reefs. The EPA put up some marine reserves in the reef so that some of the fish populations will come back. after the marine reserves were put up, the fish population had a huge boom in population. explaining that the only reason the people from St. Lucia were not getting bigger fish was because they were overfishing the reef, and keeping smaller fish when they fished in the area, leaving no fish for the predator fish. But now that there are more big fish in the area, almost all of the fish populations are growing all the time.

1) How is st Lucia different from Jamaica? St. Lucia is different from Jamaica because St. Lucia has marine reserves in the ocean so that the fish population can grow and survive in the sea when no one is fishing in that area.

2) What did they do in St. Lucia? They put up marine reserves so fishermen can't fish out the coral reef area so that the fish species in the reef can survive. 3) What kind of results are they getting in st Lucia? Some of the results they got from the marine reserves were: The big predator fish were repopulating in the reef, and a lot of the species in the reef area were returning and repopulating. 4) do you think this approach is feasible (doable) everywhere? explain the pros and cons.

Most likely not everywhere. we think that this is not doable everywhere because in some places, there are too many fish in the area all together so the people fish because they need food, and less predator fish everywhere in that certain area of the ocean.



· 68/75 Points You need to document where you retrieved the pictures from.