Imagining a World Without Predators

If the earth had no predators, then the rest of the animals would live without fear, and flourish in their own ways, right? The lion laying down with the lamb, so to speak. But in the real world, nature tries to balance all animals, plants, and even microbes into their own ecological niche. We can speculate as to the effects of a predator-less world, but it's already happened in real life, with an accidental experiment in Venezuela. Lost predators mess with every layer of the ecosystem underneath them, including plants and insects, in what is called a "trophic cascade." Minute Earth tells that story.

Venezuela is not the only place where this lesson has been learned. Another real-world experiment revealed the massive effects only after predators were re-introduced, when wolves were re-introduced to Yellowstone National Park. The effects become more notable the longer the experiment continues. Sooner or later, we will learn to stop messing with Mother Nature. -via Geeks Are Sexy