Local extinction, or extirpation, is when a species or other taxon becomes extinct in a certain area. This is different from being extinct across the world (global extinction) because these species still exist outside of that area.[1] Sometimes when this happens, it can have a very large effect on how the ecosystem works. This might be because that species was important in the food web. The species disappearing might cause more species to go locally extinct or the balance of biomass to change.[2]
There have been many cases when species have been added back, or reintroduced, to that area after going locally extinct. If a species is reintroduced after a long amount of time, this might mean there will be larger effects on the ecology of that area.[2] An example of a species being reintroduced are grey wolves in Yellowstone National Park.[3]
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
