S7 E9: At the Tipping Point
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Kaibab Plateau Deer Population
- The Kaibab Plateau illustrates the consequences of exceeding the limits of a finite system.
- Initially, the plateau had a balanced ecosystem with deer and predators like wolves and coyotes.
- Cattle ranchers disrupted this balance, so the government allowed hunters to eliminate the predators to supposedly protect the deer.
- This removal, however, destroyed the negative feedback loop provided by predation.
- As a result, the deer population exploded, overgrazed, and ultimately damaged their own habitat, leading to a population crash.
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