Journal
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
Volume 10, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
FRONTIERS MEDIA SA
DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.821822
Keywords
grassland; songbirds; buffalo; cattle; conservation; ungulates; rewilding; American Prairie
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Restoration of bison in grassland ecosystems is associated with increased bird diversity and cervid occupancy in riparian habitats. Changes in vegetation structure in bison pastures contribute to these positive outcomes for birds and mammals.
In grassland ecosystems, grazing by large herbivores is a highly influential process that affects biodiversity by modifying the vegetative environment through selective consumption. Here, we test whether restoration of bison is associated with increased bird diversity and cervid occupancy in networks of riparian habitat within a temperate grassland ecosystem, mixed-grass prairie in northcentral Montana, United States. We used a long time-series of remote sensing imagery to examine changes in riparian vegetation structure in stream networks within bison and cattle pastures. We then assessed how vegetation structure influenced diversity of bird communities and detection rates of mammals in these same riparian networks. We found that percent cover of woody vegetation, and native grasses and forbs increased more rapidly over time in bison pastures, and that these changes in vegetation structure were associated with increased bird diversity and cervid occupancy. In conclusion, bison reintroduction appears to function as a passive riparian restoration strategy with positive diversity outcomes for birds and mammals.
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