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eltigrechino94 t1_j97qzdb wrote

Reply to comment by mwb213 in Feral cows in New Mexico's Gila Wilderness will be shot from air, US Forest Service says by PM_ME_KITTYNIPPLES

So it's a self correcting problem then? If they over graze then they starve and it isn't an issue.

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PM_ME_KITTYNIPPLES OP t1_j97snc1 wrote

It doesn't just cause the grazers to starve, it makes a bunch of other animals starve too.

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eltigrechino94 t1_j9809ip wrote

And starvation is nature's way of solving problems. Let's not pretend they care about the environment, they'll have that land full of domesticated grazers before the feral cows bodies are cold.

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mwb213 t1_j97wefd wrote

The weak die off, but the strong may adapt and move on, repeating the cycle in other areas.

See, the thing is, particularly in areas prone to high summer heat and direct exposure to the sun, when the cows overgraze, this not only kills off the plants, but when the plants die back, there is nothing to shade the soil. The soil then bakes in the sun, often times reaching temps above surface air temperatures. The high heat bakes other plant roots as well as increases evaporation of nearby surface water as well as further drying out the soil. So the water hole eventually dries, along with much of the remaining vegetation.

But the those who adapted move on to another watering hole, restarting the process.

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substituted_pinions t1_j9803xg wrote

No, sometimes disproportionate environmental stresses like this make everything die off. No virtuous cycle. Endgame.

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mwb213 t1_j9855l8 wrote

I mean, you're not wrong. A meteor striking the Earth, making the conditions in an ecosystem inhospitable to life without necessarily introducing a cycle of degradation is consistent with your commebt. But that's not mutually exclusive with humans introducing a species that later becomes invasive, ultimately resulting in fundamental alterations to the ecosystem.

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