"THE LANDSCAPE OF FEAR"

 

Helen Mcginnis of the Eastern Cougar Foundation introduced me last week to John Laundre, wildlife biologist who is the originator of the "LANDSCAPE OF FEAR" ecological concept and co-originator of the "ECOLOGY OF FEAR" concept...............the paradigm that states that all animals(including humans) spatial and temporal use of the landscape is fear driven.

 

As revered naturalist Aldo Leopold aptly put it: " AS A DEER HERD LIVES N MORTAL FEAR OF ITS WOLVES, SO DOES A MOUNTAIN LIVE IN MORTAL FEAR OF ITS DEER."

 

Fear is defined as a strong emotion caused by the anticipation or awareness of danger. In us humans, it is at play daily in our locking of our homes and car doors............making sure we know who our kids are playing with and where they are playing.................not walking down deserted streets late at night............the home securitiy business is driven by our fear of being violated or killed.

 

For all animals, a certain backround level of fear of predation is critical for species to survive and perpetuate their stay on the planet. To walk around clueless or oblivious to potential threats invites that species going extinct quickly!

 

John's teriffic and defining article(click on below) discusses how animals respond to changes in predation risk by altering their behavior patterns on the landscape, not lingering in locations where they learn predators might lurk, eating less of their preferred foods in favor of vigilance and staying on the move to avoid being killed.

 

His and many of his fellow biologists(and this layman concurs) point-of-view is that all animals learn to do their best to avoid being eaten. That it is not just instinct or hard wiring that stimulates creatures to avoid predation, but in fact it is learning, the same kind that we humans employ, that assist Elk from being corralled by Wolves...........Bighorn Sheep from being ambushed by Cougars.

 

Since predators of all types generally are successful in their hunts 20% of the time, the animals that they hunt in fact have time to learn how to avoid mortal danger.................that in fact adult deer and caribou can teach their youngsters "where to play and where not to play"...........................

 

Additionaly, the CONCEPT OF FEAR has very positive impacts on the landscape by minimizing prey animals overgrazing preferred plant foods..............allowing for regeneration of the optimum suite of green plants..............resulting in stabilized watercourses and terrestrial habitats...............leading to the widest and fullest biodiversity array possible.

 

We will be hearing more from John on an on-going basis..........................Teriffic insights and enjoy his expertise!

 

click to read:

 

 

From: John Laundre <launjohn@hotmail.com>
To: Meril, Rick
Sent: Tue Jun 15 12:40:27 2010
Subject: RE: The Fear factor

Rick,
 
I am a wildlife ecologist who has been studying cougars for over 20 years, mainly in southern Idaho but also in northern Mexico.  I have published a variety of scientific articles on cougars and am a co-author of one of the chapters in the new cougar book edited by Hornocker.  I have also worked with coyotes and wolves. I am the originator of the concept of the landscape of fear and co-originator of the more general concept of the ecology of fear.  With all modesty, I originated the discussion of fear as an ecological concept.  After several years in northern Mexico, we decided to return to the states where my wife, Dr. Lucina Hernández got a job as the director of a small field station for the University of New York at Oswego.  She started that work in the fall of 2008 and we continue here.  I am working parttime as an adjunct professor and am trying to develop my skills as a nature writer, especially on predators.  So I do have a lot of ideas on predators, which run counter to much accepted wisdom (they are evil) and accepted practice by game agencies (kill them).  I have to admit, after looking at your website, I see this as an opportunity to be a voice for the predators as important ecological players and as presenting my ideas on predators, the landscape of fear, etc. to a broader public.  I have a lot to say and hope I can use your blog as a platform
 
To start with, if you are a mind to, you can post either of both (parts or total) of the two voice articles on the blog.  The Voice is a newsletter of a nonprofit and there is no copyright involved.  Also, if you would want to post the site address for the article from the Open Ecology Journal, as the name indicates it is open to all.  The site address is: http://www.bentham.org/open/toecolj/openaccess2.htm
 
Thanks
 
John