History
The concept was coined in the 1999 paper "The Ecology of Fear: Optimal Foraging, Game Theory, and Trophic Interactions", which argued that "a predator ..depletes a food patch ..by frightening prey rather than by actually killing prey." In the 2000s, the ecology of fear gained attention after researchers identified an impact of the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone on the regrowth of aspen and willows because of a substantial reduction in the numbers of elk in the park through killing. Some studies also indicated that the wolves affected the grazing intensity and patterns of the elk because they felt less secure when feeding. Critics have put forward alternative explanations for the regrowth, other than the wolf reintroduction. The consideration of wolves as a charismatic species and the fame of Yellowstone led to widespread media attention of the concept, including a mention in ''The New York Times'' and a fold-out illustration of the impact of wolves on Yellowstone in the March 2010 edition of the ''National Geographic''. There has also been a popular YouTube video ''How Wolves Change Rivers'', which has been described as a vast overstatement by some scientists. A 2010 study found that sharks, like wolves, may have the capacity to create an ecology of fear in the ecosystems which they inhabit. In 2012, a study indicated that the ecology of fear may also be applicable to parasites, with evidence suggesting that animals abandon feeding both because of predator and parasite avoidance. Some critics of the concept argue that the "cognitive and emotional aspects of avoiding predation remain unknown" and that this is true for "virtually all studies of 'the ecology of fear'".Landscape of fear
The landscape of fear is a model based on the ecology of fear, which asserts that the behaviour of animals that are preyed upon is shaped by psychological maps of their geographical surroundings which accounts for the risk of predation in certain areas.Relationship to post-traumatic stress disorder
A 2011 paper described how exposure to predators as life-threatening psychological stressors is used inHuman impact
Studies have found that the fear of humans can have substantial impacts on animal behaviour, including onSee also
* *References
Further reading
* * {{Wild animal suffering Animal ecology Animal welfare Ecology terminology Ethology Landscape ecology Predation Wild animal suffering