What happens to an ecosystem when one animal disappears?
The Jenga Tower
What happens to an ecosystem when one animal disappears?
Picture an ecosystem as a giant game of Jenga, where every block is a living thing. Plants, bugs, fish, birds, wolves — all stacked together, leaning on each other in ways you can't always see. Now imagine sliding one block out. Sometimes nothing happens. And sometimes the whole tower wobbles in surprising directions.
Let's pull a real block. In Yellowstone National Park, wolves vanished for about seventy years — hunted out by people long ago. You'd think fewer predators meant a happier, calmer park. But the tower had other plans.
