Linda L. Wallace (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300100488
- eISBN:
- 9780300127751
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300100488.001.0001
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Nature
This book presents the history and aftereffects of the fires of 1988 that swept through the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem (GYE) describes the chronology of the fires, the areas burned, and the extent ...
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This book presents the history and aftereffects of the fires of 1988 that swept through the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem (GYE) describes the chronology of the fires, the areas burned, and the extent of fire in those regions. One of the biggest concerns of the public was how individual plants and animals fared. Thinking hierarchically, we know that the patterns seen at the community and ecosystem levels are the result of mechanistic responses at the individual and population levels. It is important to know how forest trees and grass-land species responded. Some of the greatest public concern was for large animals, particularly Elk. Elk mortality and population responses after the fires took some surprising turns. The GYE is an extremely heterogeneous environment. Plant communities provide essential habitat for the megaherbivores of the GYE as well. Although we know numbers and how the populations of these animals have changed since the fires, it is difficult to determine the mechanisms behind these changes. Using simulation models and comparing their results with reality can yield important insights as to the mechanisms governing ungulate response to fire. The sediments of Yellowstone's lakes provide an opportunity to reconstruct the vegetation and fire history of the region back to the time of late-Pleistocene deglaciation.Less
This book presents the history and aftereffects of the fires of 1988 that swept through the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem (GYE) describes the chronology of the fires, the areas burned, and the extent of fire in those regions. One of the biggest concerns of the public was how individual plants and animals fared. Thinking hierarchically, we know that the patterns seen at the community and ecosystem levels are the result of mechanistic responses at the individual and population levels. It is important to know how forest trees and grass-land species responded. Some of the greatest public concern was for large animals, particularly Elk. Elk mortality and population responses after the fires took some surprising turns. The GYE is an extremely heterogeneous environment. Plant communities provide essential habitat for the megaherbivores of the GYE as well. Although we know numbers and how the populations of these animals have changed since the fires, it is difficult to determine the mechanisms behind these changes. Using simulation models and comparing their results with reality can yield important insights as to the mechanisms governing ungulate response to fire. The sediments of Yellowstone's lakes provide an opportunity to reconstruct the vegetation and fire history of the region back to the time of late-Pleistocene deglaciation.
William J. Bond
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198812456
- eISBN:
- 9780191850318
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198812456.003.0005
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
Explanations for vegetation change in the past, including the ‘deep past’ (many millions of years ago) are deeply rooted in the idea that climate determines major vegetation patterns. But other ...
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Explanations for vegetation change in the past, including the ‘deep past’ (many millions of years ago) are deeply rooted in the idea that climate determines major vegetation patterns. But other factors have also changed, including large fluctuations in atmospheric CO2, influencing plant growth, and atmospheric oxygen, altering fire activity. Vertebrate herbivores have changed from gigantic dinosaurs, to small forest mammals, to the giant beasts of the Pleistocene. Plant growth forms dominating current biomes are relatively recent; broadleaved tropical and temperate forests only became common 50 million years ago (50 Ma), and C4 savannas began to sweep over the tropics from ~7 Ma. This chapter describes the changing fortunes of uncertain ecosystems and the forces that drove those changes. Researching the deep past exposes the antiquity of fire and large vertebrate consumers as processes creating open ecosystems. The past is also a test of our understanding of uncertain ecosystems in the present.Less
Explanations for vegetation change in the past, including the ‘deep past’ (many millions of years ago) are deeply rooted in the idea that climate determines major vegetation patterns. But other factors have also changed, including large fluctuations in atmospheric CO2, influencing plant growth, and atmospheric oxygen, altering fire activity. Vertebrate herbivores have changed from gigantic dinosaurs, to small forest mammals, to the giant beasts of the Pleistocene. Plant growth forms dominating current biomes are relatively recent; broadleaved tropical and temperate forests only became common 50 million years ago (50 Ma), and C4 savannas began to sweep over the tropics from ~7 Ma. This chapter describes the changing fortunes of uncertain ecosystems and the forces that drove those changes. Researching the deep past exposes the antiquity of fire and large vertebrate consumers as processes creating open ecosystems. The past is also a test of our understanding of uncertain ecosystems in the present.
William J. Bond
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780198812456
- eISBN:
- 9780191850318
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198812456.003.0008
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
Can herbivores account for the widespread occurrence of open ecosystems? Some suggest that Pleistocene megafauna did so, and large mammal herbivory is still important in some regions today. Exclosure ...
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Can herbivores account for the widespread occurrence of open ecosystems? Some suggest that Pleistocene megafauna did so, and large mammal herbivory is still important in some regions today. Exclosure studies have been widely used to test herbivore impacts on trees, but global patterns of the ‘brown world’ are not readily seen from satellites. Areas of mammal consumer dominance occur in cool temperate/boreal regions (e.g. Tibetan montane grasslands) and savannas in Africa, but not in those in Australia or South America. Herbivores vary in their impact on openness of vegetation because of differences in body size, feeding mode, predator avoidance behaviour while plants also differ in their defences and accessibility. Unlike fire, proxies are lacking for how extinct herbivores, even giant sauropods, impacted vegetation. Very few studies deal explicitly with how vertebrate herbivores help create and maintain open ecosystems where climates are suitable for forests, and there is an urgent need to find out more.Less
Can herbivores account for the widespread occurrence of open ecosystems? Some suggest that Pleistocene megafauna did so, and large mammal herbivory is still important in some regions today. Exclosure studies have been widely used to test herbivore impacts on trees, but global patterns of the ‘brown world’ are not readily seen from satellites. Areas of mammal consumer dominance occur in cool temperate/boreal regions (e.g. Tibetan montane grasslands) and savannas in Africa, but not in those in Australia or South America. Herbivores vary in their impact on openness of vegetation because of differences in body size, feeding mode, predator avoidance behaviour while plants also differ in their defences and accessibility. Unlike fire, proxies are lacking for how extinct herbivores, even giant sauropods, impacted vegetation. Very few studies deal explicitly with how vertebrate herbivores help create and maintain open ecosystems where climates are suitable for forests, and there is an urgent need to find out more.
