Researchers from the University of Leeds in the UK believe reintroducing wolves to Scotland may help fight the climate crisis. Specifically, bringing wolves to the Cairngorms and Highlands could help capture up to 1 million metric tons of CO2 each year. Wolves used to roam Scotland until the 17th or 18th century after overhunting and a loss of habitat and resources. But should Scotland bring its wolves back?
The Wolves of Scotland
It may be surprising to learn that wolves used to live across the United Kingdom. But they were hunted to the point of extinction. Some monarchs ordered people to kill them, including England’s Edward I, who reigned from 1272–1307. Because Scotland was more mountainous and less populated, wolves managed to stick around for a few more centuries.
Since their eradication, the Scottish red deer roamed with no natural predators. This allowed their numbers to increase, only fettered by disease, age, car collisions, and other human interferences. This allowed their numbers to rise to around 400,000. While this may seem grand for the deer, unbalance in nature leads to more unbalance. In this case, the rampant red deer are limiting vegetation growth by consuming saplings before they become sturdy trees.
“Deer, in combination with sheep in some areas, prevents tree regeneration across much of Scotland,” the team writes. “Lack of tree regeneration has contributed to a long term decline and loss of native woodland, with less than 4% of Scotland currently covered by native woodland. At such high deer densities, natural regeneration and colonisation of woodland is largely restricted to areas where deer are excluded by fencing.”
Read More: Once Nearly Dead As The Dodo, California Condor Comeback Reaches 1,000 Chicks
Reduced Woodland and Climate Change
In the new study published in the British Ecological Society, the team examines how reintroducing wolves as natural predators to the deer could impact the ecosystem in Scotland. According to their use of the Markov predator-prey model, reintroduction would lead to a wolf population of about 167. That is enough to lower deer numbers to under four deer per square kilometer. Under those circumstances, trees would be able to grow and multiply.
At that point, the resulting woodland expansion can positively impact climate change. The newly-grown greenery can capture up to one million tons of CO2 per year. That is about 5% of the UK woodland’s carbon removal target set by the UK’s Climate Change Committee. Currently, removing carbon is costly, so that marks up the “financial worth” of one wolf to around £154,000. (That is almost 200 thousand USD.) So far, the lack of tree regrowth has led to the decline and loss of woodland, ranking Scotland as one of the areas with the lowest level of native woodland in Europe. Natural tree regrowth often only occurs in locations with deliberate deer management such as fences.
“There is an increasing acknowledgment that the climate and biodiversity crises cannot be managed in isolation,” said lead author Professor Dominick Spracklen of the University of Leeds’ School of Earth and Environment, in a statement. “We need to look at the potential role of natural processes such as the reintroduction of species to recover our degraded ecosystems and these in turn can deliver co-benefits for climate and nature recovery.”
Read More: Hunter Kills First Gray Wolf Seen In Lower Peninsula Of Michigan For 100 Years
Pros and Cons of Bringing Wolves to Scotland
However, this study comes with the controversy of bringing predators closer to human and livestock populations. But the authors point out other potential benefits of wolf introduction to Scotland, such as the financial gains from the woodland’s carbon uptake and storage. Additionally, there may be a rise in ecotourism for the wolves, as well as a reduction in the cost of deer culls, deer-related Lyme disease, and deer-related traffic accidents.
“Our aim is to provide new information to inform ongoing and future discussions about the possibility of wolf reintroductions both in the UK and elsewhere,” said Lee Schofield, farmer and co-author of the study. “We recognize that substantial and wide-ranging stakeholder and public engagement would clearly be essential before any wolf reintroduction could be considered. Human-wildlife conflicts involving carnivores are common and must be addressed through public policies that account for people’s attitudes for a reintroduction to be successful.”
Read More: Some Pacific Islanders Have DNA Not Linked To Any Known Human Ancestor