The Ecological Impacts of Large-Carnivore Recovery in North America

Over the past five decades, gray wolves, pumas, black bears, and grizzly bears have made significant spatial and numerical recoveries across North America, enabled by legislative protections, the cessation of predator-eradication campaigns, and changing societal perceptions of large carnivores. Here, we document the recoveries of these large carnivores and synthesize what is known about their direct effects on ungulate prey and mesocarnivores, as well as their indirect effects on vegetation and broader ecosystem processes. While large carnivores are widely believed to reduce ungulate populations and promote plant growth through trophic cascades, our synthesis shows that their impacts are complex, context dependent, and shaped by multispecies interactions, alternative stable states, and especially, human activities. As large carnivores recolonize multiuse landscapes and new technologies improve how we study them, understanding when and where they exert strong ecological effects is essential for predicting outcomes and guiding future conservation and management.