Dortmund stay in bottom three after Wolves draw

by Ryland JAMES

Thursday, December 18, 2014    

Ailing German giants Borussia Dortmund remain in the Bundesliga’s relegation places after twice throwing away the lead in a 2-2 draw with second-placed VfL Wolfsburg on Wednesday.

The draw leaves defending champions Bayern Munich 11 points clear at the top of the table.

A piece of sloppy defending five minutes from time ultimately cost Dortmund the three points when Wolfsburg’ Brazil defender Naldo headed home having been left unmarked at a corner.

“That was an intensive game against a very good opponent, Wolfsburg are a top team,” said Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp.

“We played well and that was okay for today.”

Despite reaching the last 16 of the Champions League, where they will face Juventus, Dortmund have the worst record in the Bundesliga with nine defeats in their first 16 matches and are 16th in the table.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s early goal for Dortmund was cancelled out by a Kevin de Bruyne free-kick in the first-half.

Ciro Immobile restored Dortmund’s lead with a stunning strike 14 minutes from time before Naldo rescued a point for Wolves.

“That shouldn’t have happened,” admitted Klopp when he saw a replay of Wolfsburg’s late equaliser when renowned header Naldo was allowed to roam unmarked in the area.

“But that’s the way things are for us at the moment and now we go on.”

Ten-man Werder Bremen, who host Dortmund on Saturday, remain rooted to the bottom of the table after their 4-1 defeat at Borussia Moenchengladbach, who move up to third.

Striker Max Kruse and defender Oscar Wendt put Gladbach 2-0 up at the break before Bremen’s dead-ball specialist Zlatko Junuzovic smashed home a second-half free-kick.

But Bremen had Luca Caldirola sent off with an hour gone for a second bookable offence before Christoph Kramer and Swedish striker Branimir Hrgota added Gladbach’s goals.

Bayer Leverkusen drop to fourth on goal difference despite Stefan Kiessling’s goal giving them a 1-0 win at Hoffenheim.

Eintracht Frankfurt’s Alexander Meier rescued his side with two goals in added time to seal a stunning 4-4 draw at home to Hertha Berlin.

Hertha were 4-2 up with 90 minutes played before Meier struck to take his tally to a Bundesliga best 12 goals.

Schalke are up to fifth after a 2-1 come-back win at Paderborn.

On Tuesday, Bayern beat Freiburg 2-0, Netherlands winger Arjen Robben scoring his 100th goal for the German champions.

Only a superb display from Freiburg goalkeeper Roman Burki kept the scoreline respectable as Bayern fired in 31 shots on goal — a Bundesliga record this season.

Goals by Robben and Thomas Mueller sealed Bayern’s win ahead of their final match of the year at Mainz on Friday.

Victory came at a price with defender Mehdi Benatia ruled out with a groin strain.

Striker Robert Lewandowski, midfielder Xabi Alonso and Jerome Boateng are all doubts as well, having taken knocks during the game.

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Dortmund stay in bottom three after Wolves draw

Wolves "aiding bears" in Yellowstone

29 July 2013 Last updated at 14:31 ET By Simon Redfern Reporter, BBC News Wolves were re-introduced to the park in the 1990s in an effort to control elk numbers The return of wolves to Yellowstone National Park may be leading to an improvement in the diet of grizzly bears, a study suggests.

When wolves were eradicated from Yellowstone in the early 20th Century, the elk population boomed, devastating berry-shrubs relied upon by bears.

Details are published in the Journal of Animal Ecology.

A team from Oregon and Washington links the reintroduction of predatory wolves with a fall in over-browsing by elk.

There is a consequent recovery in the availability of late-summer berries, the favoured pre-hibernation food of the grizzly bear.

The study indicates that the number of berries measured in bear droppings has doubled as elk numbers have decreased, following the wolves’ return in the 1990s.

The complex interactions of the Yellowstone ecosystem were revealed in data measured before and after the reintroduction of wolves.

The BBC visits Wyoming and Montana to hear whether humans and wolves can co-exist

David Mattson, a US Geological Survey (USGS) wildlife biologist, commented previously on Yellowstone: “It’s a complex system and grizzly bears are a kind of consummate connector of all of the species in that system.”

The study shows that berry shrubs have increased since elk populations declined, and as shrubs recover from over-browsing the fruit consumption of bears has increased.

William Ripple, lead author, commented: “Wild fruit is typically an important part of grizzly bear diet, especially in late summer when they are trying to gain weight as rapidly as possible before winter hibernation”.

“Elk browsing reducing berry production is well known in Europe as well,” said Atle Mysterud, an ecologist from the University of Oslo.

“The study shows that new patches of berries have formed after the wolves were reintroduced. It is clear that berry production is very important for bears.”

But the reduction in elk may not be all good news. Yellowstone’s northern elk population hit 19,000 in 1988, but last winter the herd was estimated to number just 3,900 animals.

Double-edged sword: the bears feed on berries in late summer… and elk in spring

Elk calves are an important food source for grizzly bears in the spring and Arthur Middleton of Yale University suggests that the decline in elk may pose a threat to the grizzly bear rather than a benefit, since their other spring food source, cutthroat trout, is also in decline.

“This is an interesting paper and it is important that we understand the consequences of wolf recovery”, Dr Middleton added.

The berry bushes also produce flowers of value to pollinators like butterflies and hummingbirds

“But wolf re-introduction is not the only change that has occurred in recent years in Yellowstone. Bears eat elk and bear numbers have increased three or four times during this period.

“Bears and wolves together reduce elk numbers, and it may be that as elk numbers have declined some bears have sought out alternative foods such as berries, separate from any benefits of shrub re-growth.

“Unfortunately, as wildlife ecologists working in a vast landscape such as the greater Yellowstone ecosystem it is very difficult to unravel the complexity of the patterns.”

The latest results demonstrate that acknowledging the many inter-relationships between species and environments in these systems is key to understanding that complexity.

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Wolves "aiding bears" in Yellowstone