Ecological Health of Grasslands and Sagebrush Steppe on the Northern Yellowstone Range
| Autor: | Harold E. Hunter, Peter O. Husby, Joseph Fidel, Jeffrey C. Mosley |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Nutrient cycle geography geography.geographical_feature_category Ecology Ecological health Steppe National park Range (biology) Geography Planning and Development Forage 04 agricultural and veterinary sciences Management Monitoring Policy and Law Native plant 01 natural sciences 010601 ecology Grazing 040103 agronomy & agriculture 0401 agriculture forestry and fisheries |
| Zdroj: | Rangelands. 40:212-223 |
| ISSN: | 0190-0528 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.rala.2018.10.008 |
| Popis: | On the Ground • Native plant abundances within the grasslands and sagebrush steppe of the Northern Range decreased substantially during the 20th century and the degradation has continued during the 21st century. • Forage production has declined precipitously, and ecological processes (i.e., water cycle, energy flow, and nutrient cycle) are impaired and degrading further. • The declining health of Northern Range grasslands and sagebrush steppe is primarily caused by heavy grazing and browsing by bison and elk, not climatic changes. • Excessive grazing and browsing is caused by modern-day management decisions that allowed bison and elk populations to become much larger than primeval times. • National Park Service policy requires human intervention (i.e., active management) when human actions have impaired natural ecological processes or altered natural abundances of native plants and animals. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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