In Yellowstone National Park, bison aren’t just iconic wildlife; they’re quiet ecosystem engineers.<\/p>\n
Once nearly wiped out, these massive grazers are now reshaping entire landscapes in ways scientists say could transform how we think about conservation, as reported by Phys.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bison were hunted to near extinction in the 1800s, with only 23 surviving in Yellowstone by 1902. Thanks to long-running recovery efforts, their population has rebounded to about 5,000. Today, Yellowstone is home to one of the last remaining large, free-roaming herds in North America, traveling roughly 1,000 miles a year along a 50-mile migration corridor.<\/p>\n For decades, overgrazing<\/a> has been recognized as detrimental, resulting in reduced plant diversity and compacted soils. But new research, published in Science<\/a>, and led by scientists at Washington and Lee University, the National Park Service, and the University of Wyoming, found the opposite with Yellowstone’s bison.<\/p>\n As the herds graze heavily in river valleys, they supercharge the nitrogen cycle, producing plants that are 150% more nutritious than in ungrazed areas. By keeping plants short, dense, and nutrient-rich, bison help maintain biodiversity and healthier soils across Yellowstone’s grasslands.<\/p>\n “What we’re witnessing is that as bison move across the landscape, they amplify the nutritional quality and capacity of Yellowstone,” said co-author Bill Hamilton, per Phys.org. “Their grazing likely has important consequences for other herbivores and for the food web as a whole, similar to the changes that occurred in the Serengeti when the wildebeest population recovered.”<\/p>\n These findings reinforce the idea that restoring animal migrations can strengthen ecosystems. Stronger ecosystems have far-reaching effects, eventually benefiting humans too, from healthier soils that store carbon to landscapes that are more resilient to the Earth’s overheating.<\/p>\n The scientists of this study hope that these findings will inspire broader bison restoration efforts across North America, not just in fenced herds, but also in free-ranging, large-scale migrations.<\/p>\n Join our free newsletter<\/a> for good news<\/strong> and useful tips<\/strong>, and don’t miss this cool list<\/a> of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In Yellowstone National Park, bison aren’t just iconic wildlife; they’re quiet ecosystem engineers. Once nearly wiped out, these…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":442626,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3847],"tags":[35231,20252,300,70,16,15,149626,1717],"class_list":{"0":"post-442625","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-bison","9":"tag-national-park-service","10":"tag-north-america","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-university-of-wyoming","15":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115246458794747388","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/442626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}