“They Went as High as They Choose:” What an Isolated Skull Can Tell Us about the Biogeography of High-altitude Bison

Cannon, Kenneth P.

doi:10.1657/1523-0430(2007)39[44:twahat]2.0.co;2

Cited by 9 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 40 publications

(53 reference statements)

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“…[10,31,32] for hair; [12,15,33] for hoof; [34] for horn). Diet-keratin isotopic discrimination has been investigated on animals fed in controlled conditions or in their natural environment.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of forage preferences and habitat use on¹³C and¹⁵N abundance in wild caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) and moose (Alces alces) from Canada

Drucker

Hobson

Ouellet

et al. 2010

Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies

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Stable isotope composition (delta(13)C and delta(15)N) of moose (Alces alces) and caribou (Rangifer tarandus) hair from the boreal forest of Jacques-Cartier Park and Cote-Nord (Quebec) and arctic tundra of Queen Maud Gulf and Southampton Island (Nunavut) was investigated as an indicator of dietary preferences and habitat use. Values of delta(13)C(hair) and delta(15)N(hair) in moose were consistently lower compared to those of caribou. This is consistent with the depletion in (13)C and (15)N in the plants preferred by moose, essentially browse (shrub and tree leaves), compared to caribou forage, which included significant amounts of graminoids, lichen and fungi. The delta(13)C(hair) values of caribou differed between closed boreal forest and open-tundra ecosystems. This pattern followed that expected from the canopy effect observed in plant communities. Variation in delta(15)N(hair) values of caribou was probably linked to the effect of different climatic conditions on plant communities. This study underlines the potential of isotopic analysis for studies on diet and habitat selection within a pure C(3) plant environment.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of forage preferences and habitat use on¹³C and¹⁵N abundance in wild caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) and moose (Alces alces) from Canada

Drucker

Hobson

Ouellet

et al. 2010

Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies

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show abstract

“…One female wood bison was observed to travel ~160 km south, while a young bull was observed to travel ~300 km north and reached the Brooks Range before it died (McFarland and Seaton, 2018). Remains of a plains bison ( Bison bison ) discovered in the highlands of northern Utah at 3840 m above sea level also illustrate that bison can travel to high altitudes (Cannon, 2007). The wood bison, Plains bison and European wisent that replaced them are known to have varying degrees of mobility in their modern habitat, but much of their true ecological niche and life history is not well known because they were forced to near extinction in the 19th and 20th centuries due to overhunting and habitat degradation (Banfield and Novakowski, 1960; Stephenson et al ., 2001; Freese et al ., 2007; Massilani et al ., 2016; Larter and Gates, 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A bio‐available strontium isoscape for eastern Beringia: a tool for tracking landscape use of Pleistocene megafauna

Funck

Bataille

Rasic

et al. 2020

J Quaternary Science

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Numerous paleoecological questions concern the mobility of ancient fauna in eastern Beringia. Strontium (Sr) isotope ratio (87 Sr/ 86 Sr) analysis has emerged as a powerful tracer for determining the provenance of ancient biological materials. However, it is important to characterize 87 Sr/ 86 Sr variation across a landscape. We measured the 87 Sr/ 86 Sr composition of teeth from present-day, herbivorous rodents (n = 162) sampled from across eastern Beringia to estimate bio-available 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values. We compiled these data with the very limited number of previously published 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values from the region. We then used this dataset and a machine learning, randomforest regression to predict bio-available 87 Sr/ 86 Sr variations across eastern Beringia. As a case study using our new 87 Sr/ 86 Sr map (isoscape), we measured the 87 Sr/ 86 Sr and oxygen stable isotope values (δ 18 O) of five radiocarbondated steppe bison from eastern Beringia and compared these to our 87 Sr/ 86 Sr isoscape and a δ 18 O isoscape to estimate the probable landscape use of these ancient fauna. Our model and isoscape provide important foundations for a wide range of additional applications, including studies of the paleo-mobility of other fauna, ancient people and present-day fauna in eastern Beringia.

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American Bison (Bison bison): A Rangeland Wildlife Continuum

Ranglack,

Plumb,

Rogers

2023

Rangeland Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

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American bison (Bison bison) are the largest extant land animal in North America and have an important history and contemporary role in modern conservation. Bison historically had the widest continental distribution of all native ungulates but now only function as wildlife under natural selection on < 1.2% of the original range. Bison as rangeland wildlife occur on an array of exclusive and overlapping governance jurisdictions (e.g., Federal, State, Provincial, County, and Tribes and First Nations), private not-for-profit conservation lands enterprises, zoo and education enterprises, and for-profit commodity production. The historical and prevailing relationships within and between these higher order sectors are very complex and often conflicting, yet each sector has invested tremendous effort and public and private resources to increase the total abundance of bison to present levels. Despite long-term public investment in wild bison conservation, the private sector has far out-stripped wild bison, resulting in a potentially divergent evolution trajectory towards species domestication. The primary ecosystem function of plains bison on rangelands is contributing to plant community heterogeneity through patchily distributed grazing events that create mosaics of grazing pressure. Additionally, bison exhibit a myriad of other roles in their environment through direct and indirect interactions. Perhaps more than with other rangeland wildlife species, genetics play an outsized role in current bison population management given historical bottlenecks and intentional cross breeding of bison and cattle. However, moving forward the interplay between population size, isolation, and genetic diversity is more important. Along the continuum of bison management there exist a wide variety of rangeland management techniques. However, as a wildlife species, the rangeland management practices associated with bison have generally focused on disturbance ecology with a more recent push to understand the impacts of bison grazing at scale. The question of scale is important given that every bison is behind a barrier, thus restricting their impacts on rangeland ecology and processes. Bison and cattle are considered by many to be potential competitors, due to large overlaps in diet and body size, and much research has focused on the ecological equivalence of the two species. While this is still not without controversy, bison and cattle are not incompatible when properly managed. Chronic infection of wild bison populations with diseases that can be transmitted to livestock and humans is an important factor affecting potential recovery of bison outside existing reserve boundaries. Climate change may represent the next major challenge to bison, as it is expected to directly affect bison through decreased forage and water availability and increased thermal stress. These threats, combined with the differences in bison management practices between sectors have led some to classify bison as moderately vulnerable to climate change, recommending the creation of a ‘bison coalition’ that could seek climate change adaptation solutions through shared stewardship. While much of the continental historical range is no longer available for bison restoration, there are exciting conservation opportunities that are finding voice through the vision of “Shared Stewardship” that embraces innovative collaboration to work together across jurisdictions and sectors to successfully address the scale, complexity, and ecological and cultural significance of wild bison.

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“They Went as High as They Choose:” What an Isolated Skull Can Tell Us about the Biogeography of High-altitude Bison

Cited by 9 publications

References 40 publications

Influence of forage preferences and habitat use on¹³C and¹⁵N abundance in wild caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) and moose (Alces alces) from Canada

Influence of forage preferences and habitat use on¹³C and¹⁵N abundance in wild caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) and moose (Alces alces) from Canada

A bio‐available strontium isoscape for eastern Beringia: a tool for tracking landscape use of Pleistocene megafauna

American Bison (Bison bison): A Rangeland Wildlife Continuum

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“They Went as High as They Choose:” What an Isolated Skull Can Tell Us about the Biogeography of High-altitude Bison

Cited by 9 publications

References 40 publications

Influence of forage preferences and habitat use on13C and15N abundance in wild caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) and moose (Alces alces) from Canada

Influence of forage preferences and habitat use on13C and15N abundance in wild caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) and moose (Alces alces) from Canada

A bio‐available strontium isoscape for eastern Beringia: a tool for tracking landscape use of Pleistocene megafauna

American Bison (Bison bison): A Rangeland Wildlife Continuum

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Influence of forage preferences and habitat use on¹³C and¹⁵N abundance in wild caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) and moose (Alces alces) from Canada

Influence of forage preferences and habitat use on¹³C and¹⁵N abundance in wild caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) and moose (Alces alces) from Canada