To some people, the term wildlife is a charming one, a word that evokes romantic images of trumpeting elephants, roaring lions, howling wolves, breaching whales. However, these individuals frequently live side by side with people who—thinking of the deer that habitually ruin their tulips or the coyotes that ransack their garbage—tend to regard wildlife as an annoyance. Still others think of wildlife as a sort of expendable resource. By dictionary definition, the term "wildlife" simply refers to “Animals and plants living in their natural environments” (Webster’s Dictionary, 436). Yet there remains an overall lack of agreement on the true definition of this term, and in light of the recent environmental movement, this disagreement has escalated into an important global issue. In today’s world, environmentalists clash with individuals who exploit wildlife for commercial purposes; these conflicts are clearly grounded in contrasting definitions of the term wildlife. In spite of this disagreement, however, the world is becoming increasingly aware of the fact that the various forms of wildlife are part of a balanced existence. Numerous scientific studies have unveiled the important role that wildlife plays in balanced ecosystems (which consist of interacting organisms and their environments) throughout the world, and still more studies are proving that humans are not immune to the negative consequences of disrupting that balance. Since these findings have such important implications for mankind, the basic dictionary definition for wildlife must be expanded. Wildlife is not only plants and animals living in nature; it is different types of undomesticated organisms that are all important elements of world ecosystems.
In every ecosystem, diverse forms of wildlife interact in a manner that upholds a balanced community. Some organisms help to maintain an ecosystem’s balance by ensuring that a population of organisms is able to reproduce. Bees and certain other insects, for instance, help to pollinate plants as they move from flower to flower collecting nectar. Without the aid of the bees, it is difficult for certain plants to effectively fertilize others; for this reason, many plants depend on bees and other insects in order to produce offspring. The plants themselves provide a sufficient supply of oxygen for the oxygen-breathing inhabitants of the ecosystem. These organisms, in turn, exhale carbon dioxide, a gas that plants utilize as they grow and produce food for themselves. Even though they may not be very dramatic, these passive, gentle relations are a crucial element of maintaining the various forms of wildlife in an ecosystem.
However, peaceful exchanges are not the only forms of balancing interaction in an ecosystem; there are also forms of wildlife that help preserve an ecosystem’s balance in a more aggressive manner. These organisms service the ecosystem as a whole by preventing other forms of wildlife from becoming too numerous. The cougar (or mountain lion) is a form of wildlife that exemplifies this beneficial predation. Cougars feed primarily on deer, and as a result they help to keep deer populations—which proliferate quickly—in check. If not for the intervention of cougars and other predatory wildlife, a growing deer herd would consume and deplete more and more of the ecosystem’s plant life. If such a trend were to continue, the environment would eventually reach a point where it could no longer support deer or other herbivores. Sharks, tigers, wolves, killer whales, and other predatory wildlife play a role similar to that of the cougar, helping to maintain balance and a healthy environment in their respective ecosystems. These environmental dynamics provide insight into the intricate relationships between the various forms of wildlife and the ecosystems that they comprise. Each form of wildlife—plant and animal—plays a part in upholding the entire ecosystem, and the various types of wildlife in an ecosystem depend on each other for survival. For this reason, the removal of any of these forms of wildlife can have a detrimental effect on all of the ecosystem’s other inhabitants—including humans.
The important role that wildlife plays in every world ecosystem is clearly reflected by the negative consequences that ensue whenever a given form of wildlife is largely removed from an ecosystem. In many cases, human actions cause these detrimental changes. For example, cougars and wolves once preyed on Pennsylvania deer herds, helping to prevent the development of excessively large deer populations. However, humans hunted both of these predatory species to local extinction, and as a result, Pennsylvania white-tailed deer herds have become disproportionately large. This overpopulation has placed increasing stress on the deer’s environment, and the humans that are part of the deer’s ecosystems have also been negatively affected. As Pennsylvania deer populations have continued to grow, there has been a corresponding increase in deer-related car accidents. Needless to say, these accidents are a serious problem for both the deer and the people, and they are a testament to the important role that all forms of wildlife (particularly cougars and wolves, in this case) play in world ecosystems.
The effects of excessive sealing provide another illustration of the fact that all forms of wildlife are important elements of world ecosystems. In certain marine ecosystems, commercial sealing has decreased seal populations to such an extent that killer whales, which normally prey on seals, must begin eating sea lions and sea otters. As killer whale predation begins to cut down sea otter populations, sea urchins (one of the most important elements of the sea otter’s diet) become more numerous. In turn, the proliferating sea urchins deplete ocean kelp forests, and the ecosystem suddenly becomes unsuitable for fish species that depend on the kelp for survival and breeding. When the afflicted fish are species that are normally harvested by humans, this chain of disruptions ends up having a harmful effect on the human fishing industry. These unfortunate events make it clear that when humans define "wildlife" as an expendable resource, mankind often ends up paying an unpleasant price.
The ramifications of excessive hunting have already shown that negative consequences occur when humans fail to define "wildlife" as a significant element of world ecosystems; for this reason, it is important that mankind define "wildlife" not merely as a bunch of plants and animals living in nature, but as a group of organisms that each play a crucial part in upholding ecosystems around the globe. Human beings will be doing a service to themselves and to all other life forms by recognizing this expanded definition and by choosing to respect wildlife, particularly by practicing moderation in hunting and in harvesting trees. If humans wish to maintain a healthy planet, they must choose to emulate the world’s wildlife by helping to maintain balanced ecosystems.
Works Cited
Kauffman, Liz, ed. Webster’s Dictionary. Watermill Press, 1997.
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