Healthy populations of cougar, wolves and other large predators may ensure healthy wildlife and forest ecosystems, according to the work of two Oregon State University researchers.

Their premiere showing of the documentary film "Lords of Nature: Life in a Land of Great Predators," is set to debut locally at 7 p.m. Monday in Milam Auditorium, 2520 S.W. Campus Way. The event is free and open to the public, and will include a question and answer session after the film.

The film was produced by Green Fire Productions, narrated by Peter Coyote, and the showing is sponsored by the OSU Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, and the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society.

The filmmakers, Karen and Ralf Meyer, will attend this screening, along with OSU forestry scientists William Ripple and Robert Beschta, the subjects of the film.

The documentary explores the role that wolves and cougars have historically played in the health of natural ecosystems, controlling both the population level and behavior of large grazing animals such as deer and elk. When the predators disappear, research has found, overgrazing has had impacts on everything from riparian zones and tree survival to the decline of other plant and animal species and major loss of biodiversity.