Pepper Trail | Essays | The Ecology and Politics of Fear

THE ECOLOGY AND POLITICS OF FEAR

Here’s some good news: in Yellowstone National Park, the cottonwood groves are thriving. Cottonwoods are a key element in the Yellowstone ecosystem, but not so long ago, it seemed that they were doomed by dense herds of elk that clustered along the park’s rivers and browsed the trees so heavily that no young saplings survived. Then, nine years ago, wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone after a 70-year absence. The wolves quickly learned that elk in the river valleys were easy hunting. Today, Yellowstone elk have drastically changed their behavior in response to the threat of wolf attack and are much more scattered, easing pressure on the cottonwoods. Biologists have come up with a term to describe such far-reaching effects of predators on the behavior of their prey: "the ecology of fear."

Fear, it turns out, is not simply an emotion. Fear is a powerful force in the world, a force whose impact may far surpass the direct effects of what is feared. Biologists are learning that many aspects of animals’ lives are a response to the fear of predation. Take away that fear, and behaviors that were assumed to be genetically determined may simply disappear. Reintroduce that fear, and old patterns quickly return, even if it has been generations since the species faced predators.

On Sept. 11, 2001, a particular sort of fear was reintroduced to an American population that had long ago come to take security as our birthright. When hijacked planes destroyed the World Trade Center towers and struck the Pentagon, almost 3,000 people died. It was a horrible moment in our nation’s history, and the enduring tragedy of those deaths continues to reverberate through the lives of all of us.

And yet, these deaths are far fewer than the number of Americans who died in 2001 from traffic accidents, 42,900, not to mention heart disease, 700,142, cancer, 553,768 and a myriad of other diseases. The Centers for Disease Control estimate that 400,000 Americans die every year as the result of poor diet and inactivity, though poor diet and inactivity cause us to feel, if anything, mild guilt and not paralyzing fear. Clearly, our reaction to being attacked on our home ground transcends the simply rational.

		THE ECOLOGY AND POLITICS OF FEAR Here’s some good news: in Yellowstone National Park, the cottonwood groves are thriving. Cottonwoods are a key element in the Yellowstone ecosystem, but not so long ago, it seemed that they were doomed by dense herds of elk that clustered along the park’s rivers and browsed the trees so heavily that no young saplings survived. Then, nine years ago, wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone after a 70-year absence. The wolves quickly learned that elk in the river valleys were easy hunting. Today, Yellowstone elk have drastically changed their behavior in response to the threat of wolf attack and are much more scattered, easing pressure on the cottonwoods. Biologists have come up with a term to describe such far-reaching effects of predators on the behavior of their prey: "the ecology of fear." Fear, it turns out, is not simply an emotion. Fear is a powerful force in the world, a force whose impact may far surpass the direct effects of what is feared. Biologists are learning that many aspects of animals’ lives are a response to the fear of predation. Take away that fear, and behaviors that were assumed to be genetically determined may simply disappear. Reintroduce that fear, and old patterns quickly return, even if it has been generations since the species faced predators. On Sept. 11, 2001, a particular sort of fear was reintroduced to an American population that had long ago come to take security as our birthright. When hijacked planes destroyed the World Trade Center towers and struck the Pentagon, almost 3,000 people died. It was a horrible moment in our nation’s history, and the enduring tragedy of those deaths continues to reverberate through the lives of all of us. And yet, these deaths are far fewer than the number of Americans who died in 2001 from traffic accidents, 42,900, not to mention heart disease, 700,142, cancer, 553,768 and a myriad of other diseases. The Centers for Disease Control estimate that 400,000 Americans die every year as the result of poor diet and inactivity, though poor diet and inactivity cause us to feel, if anything, mild guilt and not paralyzing fear. Clearly, our reaction to being attacked on our home ground transcends the simply rational.