Climate & Environment
Trophic Cascade
Definition
A trophic cascade is an ecological phenomenon in which changes at the top of a food web propagate down through trophic levels, altering the abundance and behaviour of species across the ecosystem. Classic cases: removing sea otters collapses kelp forests (urchins graze them bare); restoring wolves to Yellowstone changed deer behaviour, regenerating riverside vegetation — effects documented with ongoing scientific debate about their magnitude.
References
This reference provides supporting context for how “Trophic Cascade” is defined and used.
Source imported for editorial provenance.
Overview
How it is used
The concept structures rewilding programmes, fisheries and marine reserve science, and ecosystem restoration planning.
Why it matters
Trophic cascades prove that ecosystems are more than the sum of their species — and that restoring the missing pieces can restore the whole.