Question

Explain why demographic bottlenecks and invasive species are problematic for ecological restoration.

Answer 1

Demographic bottlenecks are those situations or factors which lead to an extensive reduction in the population size. It can be human interventions or natural disasters like earthquake, drought, flood, hurricane or forest fires. When there is population loss it can affect the ecology balance too. Vast amount of species will be wiped out and the existing numbers will be dwindling. There will be an imbalance in the numbers of the existing herbivores and carnivores and their impact on the ecosystem will be different as compared to before. When the struggle of existence is going on and there is an increase in foreign invasive species the ecological restoration will be impossible. When the available species are fighting for survival the invasive species will attack them thus further reducing their original numbers.