College of Forestry

Corvallis Gazette-Times Mar. 28, 2003

New York Times, September 26, 2000

By HENRY FOUNTAIN
The hip bone's connected to the thigh bone, as the old children's song goes, and in ecology, things are tied together as well. The latest case in point comes from Yellowstone National Park, where researchers suggest that a sharp decline in aspen trees over the past century can be linked to the elimination of wolves.

Researchers at Oregon State University’s Aspen Project are exploring the possibility that killing off the wolves in northern Yellowstone National Park may be a principal cause for the aspen declines in that area.