Advanced exploration of the ecological consequences of trophic downgrading in grass prairies
Category: Higher Ed CourseworkContributor: Dennis Ruez
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Posted on: April 26, 2017
Project Description
North American ecosystems have fundamentally changed over the late Pleistocene and Holocene; from a system dominated by mammoths, to bison, to domestic livestock. Given the very different body size and herd formation of these 'ecosystem engineers', it is likely that animals influence soil structure, water tables, vegetation and other animals in the ecosystems. What has been the ecological influence of the continued 'downsizing' of the largest animals in the ecosystem?