Impacts of Roads on Movements and Habitat Use by Bighorn Sheep on the Northern Winter Range

Impacts of Roads on Movements and Habitat Use by Bighorn Sheep on the Northern Winter Range
Author: Lynn R. Irby
Publisher:
Total Pages: 12
Release: 1996
Genre: Bighorn sheep
ISBN:

Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis) were reported to occur in all mountain ranges in and around Yellowstone National Park (YNP) in the late 1800's (Mills 1937). European expansion into the upper Yellowstone River Valley during the 19th century caused bighorn sheep numbers to drastically decline from competition with livestock, introduction of livestock disease, hunting, and loss of habitat. The establishment of YNP, other management areas, and hunting regulations protected remaining bighorn populations. Although some populations were eliminated, others increased and reestablished into historic ranges (Buechner 1960, Keating 1982).

Yellowstone’s Wildlife in Transition

Yellowstone’s Wildlife in Transition
Author: P. J. White
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2013-04-15
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0674076435

The world's first national park, Yellowstone is a symbol of nature's enduring majesty and the paradigm of protected areas across the globe. But Yellowstone is constantly changing. How we understand and respond to events that are putting species under stress, say the authors of Yellowstone's Wildlife in Transition, will determine the future of ecosystems that were millions of years in the making. With a foreword by the renowned naturalist E. O. Wilson, this is the most comprehensive survey of research on North America's flagship national park available today. Marshaling the expertise of over thirty contributors, Yellowstone's Wildlife in Transition examines the diverse changes to the park's ecology in recent decades. Since its creation in the 1870s, the priorities governing Yellowstone have evolved, from intensive management designed to protect and propagate depleted large-bodied mammals to an approach focused on restoration and preservation of ecological processes. Recognizing the importance of natural occurrences such as fires and predation, this more ecologically informed oversight has achieved notable successes, including the recovery of threatened native species of wolves, bald eagles, and grizzly bears. Nevertheless, these experts detect worrying signs of a system under strain. They identify three overriding stressors: invasive species, private-sector development of unprotected lands, and a warming climate. Their concluding recommendations will shape the twenty-first-century discussion over how to confront these challenges, not only in American parks but for conservation areas worldwide. Highly readable and fully illustrated, Yellowstone's Wildlife in Transition will be welcomed by ecologists and nature enthusiasts alike.