james h c fenton
WWW.FENTON.SCOT
REWILDING
I have just finished reading the book Rewilding by Paul Jepson &
Cain Blythe (the illustrated edition, Icon Books 2021). It makes
one rethink one’s whole understanding of terrestrial ecology. In
summary, the book concludes that large herbivores have a major
role to play in shaping the vegetation pattern across landscapes.
However, because over much of the planet we have made large
herbivores extinct, the current ecosystems we see as ‘natural’ are
in fact no such thing. The book says that ‘rewilding’ should be
about bringing back large herbivores to ecosystems, and thereafter
allowing them to develop naturally; allowing the natural processes
which have largely been lost.
“Advances in ecological science have firmly positioned herbivores at the core of
processes that produce vibrant ecosystems across all scales from the local to
the planetary.” [page 137]
In relation to this, I have noticed a contradiction in the approach taken to rewilding in
the Scottish Highlands to that promulgated elsewhere in Europe: in most of Europe
rewilding is about reintroducing large herbivores, whereas in the Highlands it is about
removing them – or at least making them functionally extinct. I have argued for quite
a few years that the vegetation pattern of the Highlands is one of the most natural
remaining in Europe because the area retained a significant population of large
herbivores (red deer) throughout the postglacial period; and for most of postglacial
history the herds were unmanaged (although hunted), as described in my recent
paper. Where else in Europe is this true?
I have one cavil with the book, though, and that is that it does not recognise this
contradiction between the Highlands and elsewhere. The book, in passing, accepts the
narrative that high densities of deer in the Highlands are caused by the ‘hunting
estate model’, and that there are too many deer as evidenced by the absence of
trees. This seems to be an aberration that goes against everything else the book is
saying!
I would argue that reducing deer numbers for the sake of encouraging trees is not
‘rewilding’ as defined in the book, but instead it is humans expressing their will on the
landscape to make the vegetation pattern accord with what ‘should’ be there. It is the
opposite of ‘self-willed land’ and could almost be called ‘dewilding’. In the same way
that the commonly used phrase ‘natural regeneration’ is based on ‘non-natural’ levels
of grazing (by making herbivores functionally extinct); what is natural about this?
The point is in effect illustrated in the book: it quotes research [page 83] suggesting
that one area of Arctic Russia would have hosted a rich megafauna, with 1 sq km of
land supporting:
1 mammoth
5 bison
7.5 horses
15 reindeer
0.25 lions
1 wolf
This is mind boggling! – especially when compared with the measly 3-4 red deer/sq
km being promoted by conservationists in the Highlands (low enough to encourage
trees). My latest paper argues that, in fact, herbivore density is determined by food
availability, and that upland vegetation in Scotland can support an order of magnitude
more grazing than the exceedingly low level that enables trees to survive in the
landscape. Hence the open landscape (too simple?!).
March 2023
Dr James Fenton, Seil Island, Scotland
www.fenton.scot ecology@fenton.scot
Web design by James Fenton
Xara Web Designer Coyright 2023
Herbivores at
the core of
ecological
processes