Author: Knapp, Alan K.; Blair, John M.; Briggs, John M.; Collins, Scott L.; Hartnett, David C.; Johnson, Loretta C.; Towne, E. Gene
Description: Observations of the influence of bison on tallgrass prairie were carried out at Konza Prairie Research Natural Area in the Flint Hills of northeastern Kansas since 1987, when 30 bison were reintroduced. The herd was allowed to increase until 1992 and has been maintained at about 200 animals since then. The herd was given unrestricted access to a 1012-ha portion of the prairie. It is concluded from a decade of observations that the interaction of ungulate grazing and burning, operating in a shifting mosaic across the landscape, is key to conserving and restoring the tallgrass prairie. The spatial and temporal complexities of bison grazing activities are critical to the successful maintenance of biotic diversity of this grassland. The grazing-induced heterogeneity contrasts sharply with the spatial homogeneity induced by burning in an ungrazed landscape.
Subject headings: Burning; Ecosystems; Grasslands; Grazing; Plant communities; Prairie; Species diversity; Wild animals; Bison; Kansas; United States
Publication year: 1999
Journal or book title: BioScience
Volume: 49
Issue: 1
Pages: 39-50
Find the full text: https://www.emwh.org/pdf/bison/The%20Keystone%20Role%20of%20Bison%20in%20North%20American%20Tallgrass%20Prairie.pdf
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Serial number: 4043