Revisiting trophic cascades and aspen recovery in northern Yellowstone
Open accessAbstract
We revisit the nature and extent of trophic cascades and quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) recovery in the northern range of Yellowstone National Park, where studies have reported on Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus canadensis) browsing and young aspen heights following the 1995–96 reintroduction of gray wolves (Canis lupus). A recent study by Brice et al. (2021) expressed concerns about methodologies employed in earlier aspen studies and that results from those studies exaggerated the extent to which a trophic cascade has benefitted aspen, concerns such as: (a) the selection of aspen stands, (b) young aspen sampling and measurements within stands, (c) the upper browse level of elk, (d) cause of increased young aspen height growth, (e) interpretation of browsing and height data, and others. We individually address these concerns and conclude that earlier aspen studies have provided important insights regarding the recovery of aspen that is underway in northern Yellowstone and that they have not exaggerated the ongoing recovery. We found that Brice et al. (2021) misinterpreted or misrepresented various aspects of those earlier studies, while failing to address potential biases and shortcomings of their own 2007–2017 study, including; sampling aspen stands from only a portion of the park's northern range, not randomly selecting aspen stands across their study area, but only within identified treatments, varying sampling density (stands/km2) by more than an order of magnitude betwee…
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Browsing pressure was reduced and more spatially variable, and subsequent aspen studies reported new recruitment of aspen saplings.
“Browsing pressure was reduced and more spatially variable, and subsequent aspen studies reported new recruitment of aspen saplings (Beschta et al., 2023; Painter et al., 2014, 2015; Ripple & Beschta, 2007, 2012).”
From Bison alter the northern Yellowstone ecosystem by breaking aspen saplings (2023) · cites this paper as Beschta et al., 2023
Cites
Trophic cascades in Yellowstone: The first 15years after wolf reintroduction
Ripple, W. J., & Beschta, R. L. (2012) · Biological Conservation · doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2011.11.005 · Cited by 884 · cited 1× · see citing works
“…willows, cottonwoods and perhaps other plant species across the Lamar Valley and other low-elevation portions of the northern range (Painter and Ripple, 2012; Beschta et al., 2020; Painter and Tercek, 2020). r p Brice et al. indicated browsing rates of young aspen at heights above 200 cm were…”
Self-citationRestoring Yellowstone’s aspen with wolves
Ripple, W. J., & Beschta, R. L. (2007) · Biological Conservation · doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2007.05.006 · Cited by 319 · see citing works
Self-citationHistoric aspen recruitment, elk, and wolves in northern Yellowstone National Park, USA
Ripple, W. J., & Larsen, E. J. (2000) · Biological Conservation · doi:10.1016/s0006-3207(00)00014-8 · Cited by 308 · see citing works
Self-citationHYDROLOGIC REGIME AND HERBIVORY STABILIZE AN ALTERNATIVE STATE IN YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
Wolf, E. C., Cooper, D. J., & Hobbs, N. T. (2007) · Ecological Applications · doi:10.1890/06-2042.1 · Cited by 167 · see citing works
Riparian vegetation recovery in Yellowstone: The first two decades after wolf reintroduction
Beschta, R. L., & Ripple, W. J. (2016) · Biological Conservation · doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2016.03.031 · Cited by 160 · cited 3× · see citing works
“spectrum of northern range studies (Beschta and Ripple, 2016), decreased elk browsing remains the most plausible explanation for the ongoing release of young aspen and other deciduous woody plants that has been underway since the early 2000s.”
BackgroundSelf-citationTrophic Cascades in a Multicausal World: Isle Royale and Yellowstone
Peterson, R. O., Vucetich, J. A., Bump, J. M., & Smith, D. W. (2014) · Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics · doi:10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-120213-091634 · Cited by 150 · cited 1× · see citing works
“In the 1990s and preceding decades, intensive browsing by elk held nearly all young aspen plants in the northern range below a height of 100 cm (Ripple et al., 2001; Larsen and Ripple, 2005; Peterson et al., 2014), and overstory aspen trees were dying without new recruitment to replace them (Houston, 1982; Kay, 1990).”
WILLOW ON YELLOWSTONE'S NORTHERN RANGE: EVIDENCE FOR A TROPHIC CASCADE?
Beyer, H. L., Merrill, E. H., Varley, N., & Boyce, M. S. (2007) · Ecological Applications · doi:10.1890/06-1254.1 · Cited by 142 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Journal Pre-proof An inverse relationship between browsing and plant height is central to the trophic cascade hypothesis because it demonstrates the mechanism connecting the various trophic levels: carnivores cause a reduction in herbivory, resulting in greater plant growth (Beyer et al., 2007).”
Recovering aspen follow changing elk dynamics in Yellowstone: evidence of a trophic cascade?
Painter, L. E., Beschta, R. L., Larsen, E. J., & Ripple, W. J. (2015) · Ecology · doi:10.1890/14-0712.1 · Cited by 76 · cited 8× · see citing works
“…from across a stand will always be greater than the average height of young aspen measured in a small 20 m 2 plot, such as that used by Brice et al. Painter et al. (2014, 2015) subsequently addressed this issue by measuring, in conjunction with 5T sampling, young aspen heights in random plots for…”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialSelf-citationEffects of bison on willow and cottonwood in northern Yellowstone National Park
Painter, L. E., & Ripple, W. J. (2012) · Forest Ecology and Management · doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2011.10.010 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Self-citationAfter long-term decline, are aspen recovering in northern Yellowstone?
Painter, L. E., Beschta, R. L., Larsen, E. J., & Ripple, W. J. (2014) · Forest Ecology and Management · doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2014.05.055 · Cited by 31 · cited 16× · see citing works
“…from across a stand will always be greater than the average height of young aspen measured in a small 20 m 2 plot, such as that used by Brice et al. Painter et al. (2014, 2015) subsequently addressed this issue by measuring, in conjunction with 5T sampling, young aspen heights in random plots for…”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialSelf-citationPainter, L. E., Beschta, R. L., Larsen, E. J., & Ripple, W. J. (2018) · Ecosphere · doi:10.1002/ecs2.2376 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Self-citationTall willow thickets return to northern Yellowstone
Painter, L. E., & Tercek, M. T. (2020) · Ecosphere · doi:10.1002/ecs2.3115 · Cited by 11 · cited 1× · see citing works
“…other plant species across the Lamar Valley and other low-elevation portions of the northern range (Painter and Ripple, 2012; Beschta et al., 2020; Painter and Tercek, 2020). r p Brice et al. indicated browsing rates of young aspen at heights above 200 cm were relatively low in 2007 but had…”
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Bison alter the northern Yellowstone ecosystem by breaking aspen saplings
Painter, L. E., Beschta, R. L., & Ripple, W. J. (2023) · Ecology and Evolution · doi:10.1002/ece3.10369 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- Beschta, R. L., Painter, L. E., & Ripple, W. J.
- Affiliations
- Oregon State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Beschta, Robert L.
- Venue
- Food Webs
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2023-09
- Volume
- 36
- Pages
- e00276
- ISSN
- 2352-2496 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4360821297
- Cited by
- 6
- References
- 12
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1
- FWCI
- 0.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Food Webs (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Digital Commons - USU (Utah State University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Ohio State University Foundation
- Oregon State University Agricultural Research Foundation
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Rangeland and Wildlife Management
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Ecology and biodiversity studies
- Keywords
- trophic cascades, Populus tremuloides, elk browsing, Rocky Mountain elk, gray wolf reintroduction, wolf, sampling bias, herbivory
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
