Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 15, 2026
09:09
Protocol for Assessing the Relative Effects of Environment and Genetics on Antler and Body Growth for a Long-lived Cervid
Published on: August 8, 2017
Sexual predators, energy development, and conservation in greater Yellowstone
1Division of Biological Sciences, and Northern Rockies Field Office, Wildlife Conservation Society, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA. jberger@wcs.org
Summary
Energy extraction in rural areas correlates with increased sexual predators, not improved healthcare. Conservation efforts are vital to mitigate social and environmental disruption near energy boomtowns.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Sociology
- Public Policy
Background:
- The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) faces a conflict between energy development and conservation.
- Rural communities often see fossil fuel extraction as an economic driver, despite potential negative social impacts.
- An itinerant workforce associated with energy extraction may increase wildlife poaching and other social issues.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the social and healthcare impacts of energy extraction in the GYE.
- To compare counties with recreation, agrarian, and energy-extractive economies.
- To assess differences in healthcare availability and the frequency of sexual predators across economic types.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of counties in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
- Examining healthcare indicators (hospital beds) and registered sex offender frequencies.
- Correlating economic bases (recreation, agrarian, energy extraction) with social and healthcare data.
Main Results:
- Counties reliant on energy extraction showed a 2-3 times faster growth in registered sex offenders compared to other economic types.
- No significant differences in healthcare availability (hospital beds) were found between county economic types.
- A strong correlation exists between community disarray, indicated by sexual predators, and ecological issues in energy-dependent areas.
Conclusions:
- Energy extraction in the GYE is linked to increased social disruption, specifically a higher rate of sexual predators.
- Conservation initiatives and community organizing can help protect rural livelihoods against poorly managed energy projects.
- Stronger regulatory oversight is necessary to address the social and environmental consequences of energy extraction and land conversion.
Related Concept Videos
01:50Threats to Biodiversity
There have been five major extinction events throughout geological history, resulting in the elimination of biodiversity, followed by a rebound of species that adapted to the new conditions. In the current geological epoch, the Holocene, there is a sixth extinction event in progress. This mass extinction has been attributed to human activities and is thus provisionally called the Anthropocene. In 2019 the human population reached 7.7 billion people and is projected to comprise 10 billion by...
02:04Conservation of Small Populations
Small population sizes put a species at extreme risk of extinction due to a lack of variation, and a consequent decrease in adaptability. This weakens the chances of survival under pressures such as climate change, competition from other species, or new diseases. Large populations are more likely to survive pressures such as these, as such populations are more likely to harbor individuals that have genetic variants that are adaptive under new stresses. Small populations are much less likely to...
02:39Predator-Prey Interactions
Predators consume prey for energy. Predators that acquire prey and prey that avoid predation both increase their chances of survival and reproduction (i.e., fitness). Routine predator-prey interactions elicit mutual adaptations that improve predator offenses, such as claws, teeth, and speed, as well as prey defenses, including crypsis, aposematism, and mimicry. Thus, predator-prey interactions resemble an evolutionary arms race.Although predation is commonly associated with carnivory, for...
01:57What is Conservation Biology?
Conservation biology is a scientific field that focuses on the preservation of biodiversity in order to protect ecosystems while meeting the needs of the human population. Humans require properly functioning ecosystems to maintain our supply of natural resources, including food, medicines, and building materials.
01:12Conservation of Energy: Application
When solving problems using the energy conservation law, the object (system) to be studied should first be identified. Often, in applications of energy conservation, we study more than one body at the same time. Second, identify all forces acting on the object and determine whether each force doing work is conservative. If a non-conservative force (e.g., friction) is doing work, then mechanical energy is not conserved. The system must then be analyzed with non-conservative work. Third, for...
00:54Conservation of Energy
The terms 'conserved quantity' and 'conservation law' have specific scientific meanings in physics, which differ from the meanings associated with their everyday use. For example, in everyday usage, water could be conserved by not using it, by using less of it, or by re-using it. However, in scientific terms, a conserved quantity of a system stays constant, changes by a definite amount that is transferred to other systems, and is converted into other forms of that quantity. In the scientific...