The Yellowstone ecosystem has many different organisms living in it and some are affected by the changing weather in Yellowstone. The changing seasons were extreme cold and starvation in the Winter, melting ice which causes flooding rivers in the Spring, and dry plants in the Summer which causes great forest fires. The type of organisms interacting with one another in Yellowstone are bison, wolves, great gray owls, beavers, otters, bald eagles, squirrels, pikas, deer, bears. Winter Yellowstone in Winter is harsh for any animal living there. For bison food was very scarce for the herd which made it easy for ferocious packs of wolves to hunt them because they are more well suited for the cold and snow. Great gray owls needed to break through
Robbins, Jim. Last Refuge: The Environmental Showdown in Yellowstone and the American West. New York: Morrow, 1993. Print.
Yochim, Michael. “The Development of Snowmobile Policy in Yellowstone National Park.” N.P. Web. 4 March 2014.
In Montana, tall mountains create two distinct climate regions. To the west of the mountains, the weather is milder (Av2 books). Yellowstone National Park lies mostly in Wyoming, but three of the park’s entrances are located in southern Montana. People go to Yellowstone National park to see the view and the glaciers, some people go there to just go on a vacation to see the wildlife (Av2 books).
Wolves have always been a symbol of the wild, free in spirit and roamers of the land. These animals are considered majestic and protectors of the wilderness. They have always roamed the western United States, although their population has fluctuated over time. Over the past 10 years wolf reintroduction into Yellowstone National Park has been a controversial topic to those of the United States. As of 1995, wolves have been reintroduced into the park. This has come with some strong opposition and yet has prevailed. The future of the wolf in Yellowstone park is now looking bright, although not certain since there still are those who want them banished again.
Cavendish, M. (2011). North American Wildlife. (p. 109). New York: Marshall Cavendish Reference. DOI: www.marshallcavendish.us
Phillips, Michael K., Smith, Douglas W. The Wolves of Yellowstone. Voyage Press, Inc. 1996, pgs 25-30.
Another biome in the park is their temperate forest. Temperate forests have high humidity, high levels of precipitation, and variety of trees are also included. Freshwater biomes surround the park as well.
Every year, over nine million hikers and adventure seekers travel to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park making it the most visited national park in the United States. There are abundant reasons for this, but many popular reasons include over 150 hiking trails extending over 850 miles, a large portion of the Appalachian Trail, sightseeing, fishing, horseback riding, and bicycling. The park houses roughly ten thousand species of plants and animals with an estimated 90,000 undocumented species likely possible to be present. It is clear why there was a pressing interest in making all this land into a national park. My research was started by asking the question; how did the transformation of tourism due to the establishment of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park affect surrounding cities such as Gatlinburg and Sevier County, and in return, its effect on the popularity of the park?
The Woolly Mammoth saw periods of glaciation, when temperatures were reduced, and the Earth entered an Ice Age. They lived in dry northern ecosystems which they were well adapted to with their characteristic long shaggy coat. However, most of the time there were periods of snow. They are also associated with grassy plains which. Although the grass was not very nutritious, they grew in large enough amounts that it became part of their diet. They also fed on saplings of trees such as birch. Because of a grown Woolly Mammoth’s size and sheer strength, the Woolly Mammoth didn’t have many predators. Those who were preyed upon were juvenile wooly mammoths who were targeted by big cats like Homotheriums and, later, the early
Juliet Eilperin’s informative article “Once Nearly Extinct, Wolves Now Fair Game” explains that when they brought the wolves population back, protester are happy that the wolf population has thrived, but hunters and ranchers see a threat to other wildlife and cattle. He added that many of his fellow hunters exaggerate wolves' impact on both livestock wild game and the aspen trees. The aspens have declined by more than 75 percent causing others affects such as cooler streams and more vibrant animal populations. As many activists thought that hunting the gray wolves’ would again drive their population down, this would not be the case. “Montana's wolf population actually rose 15 percent after last year's hunting season, to a total of at least 650, prompting the state to allow unlimited hunting of wolves between Sept. 1 and Feb. 28. It also has allowed trapping for t...
One way that the environment impacts the animals is that the animals such as bears adapt and store their energy in the winter. This is also known as hibernating. “Animals in the mountains have also adapted to save energy during the harsh winter months.” (Cassandra Maier, Adaptations of plants and animals to mountains) When animals hibernate, they are less active during the winter, and they just sleep for most of the day. Other animals such as the goat and deer do not hibernate during the winter,
Yellowstone is bigger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined. There are 50 mammal species, 311 bird species, and five endangered species. Rivers and lakes make up only 5% of Yellowstone (By 1870, Gold Fever Was Gone and the Great Yellowstone Expeditions Began. "Yellowstone National Park History."). The largest lake is called the Yellowstone Lake and is 136 miles long. The lake is known for having the highest altitude in North America ("56 Interesting Facts About . . . Var Addthis_config = ). In addition to lakes and rivers, there are about 290 waterfalls in the park. The highest waterfall is called Lower Falls and is 308 ft tall. Forests make up 80% of the park and an additional 15% is made up of grassland ("10 Surprising Facts About Yellowstone." National Geographic.). Yellowstone has one of the largest petrified forests from the big 1978 fire. The burned trees reformed into wood and minerals due to heat from the fire. The park sits on the Continental Divide, this means that half of the lakes run to the Pacific and the other half run into the Atlantic Ocean (United States. National Park Service. "Park Facts.). The average temperature during the summer is 70-80 degrees Fahrenheit and in the winter the average temperature is 0-20 degrees Fahrenheit. The average elevation is about 8,000 feet above sea level covered by mountains and lakes ( "Yellowstone National Park - Fast Facts."). The highest peak in the park is called Eagle Peak and is 11,358 feet high. The lowest peak in the park is Reese Creek which is 5,282 feet high. ( United States. National Park Service. "Park
...ghteen hundreds there were seventy five million bison in North America. When the nomads and euroamericans started hunting them for their hides and using them for the main form of trade, along with other natural factors there population took a devastating turn for the worst. “By the eighteen eighties only a couple hundred bison had found refuge from commercial hunters, drought, and the destruction of their grazing land by farmers and livestock in Yellowstone national park” (Isenberg 164). Yellowstone was made into a safe haven for the bison and the United States government did allow the railroad to cross throw Yellowstone because it would affect the safety of the bison. People started to capture the bison and domesticated them to rebuild the population. Bison became a symbol of the American west, which is why the euroamericans started to regenerate there population.
National Parks are the cornerstone of every country because it preserves the rich cultural and natural resources of a nation, such as Yellowstone in the United States of America. Yellowstone National Park is the World’s First National Park which brings millions of attraction each year, it is larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combine and have over a thousand species of plants and animal (Yellowstone Media). However, a very important type of species has been missing in Yellowstone National Park for a very long time. Wolves, which got reintroduce back into Yellowstone National Park, should stay there because without them the ecosystem would be out of balance.
As explained in the movie "Jurassic Park", contained within the coils of DNA is one of the mightiest powers on earth. Coded with a simple alphabet of A, T, G, and C is the power to kill billions of organisms, change the gas concentration of the atmosphere, and yes even destroy the whole earth with a nuclear Winter.