Ecological Dynamics on Yellowstone's Northern Range discusses the complex management challenges in Yellowstone National Park. Controversy over the National Park Service's approach of "natural regulation" has heightened in recent years because of changes in vegetation and other ecosystem components in Yellowstone's northern range. Natural regulation minimizes human impacts, including management intervention by the National Park Service, on the park ecosystem. Many have attributed these changes to increased size of elk and other ungulate herds. This report examines the evidence that increased ungulate populations are responsible for the changes in vegetation and that the changes represent a major and serious change in the Yellowstone ecosystem. According to the authors, any human intervention to protect species such as the aspen and those that depend on them should be prudently localized rather than ecosystem-wide. An ecosystem-wide approach, such as reducing ungulate populations, could be more disruptive. The report concludes that although dramatic ecological change does not appear to be imminent, approaches to dealing with potential human-caused changes in the ecosystem, including those related to climate change, should be considered now. The need for research and public education is also compelling.

In 1872, Congress designated Yellowstone National Park as the world's first National Park. In this book, various experts in science, economics and law discuss key resource management issues in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, and how humans should interact with the environment of this area.

Yellowstone National Park is the focal point of the 22-million-acre, multifaceted Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, located in northwestern Wyoming and in parts of eastern Idaho and Montana. Yellowstone has a uniquely American identity as a place where nature--largely untouched and unmanaged--is allowed to flourish. This is a detailed survey that blends Yellowstone's past into its present and explores its likely future. It covers the first inhabitants of the area; the explorers and visionary conservationists who first brought Yellowstone to public attention; the unsung early heroes of the park's ranger service; and the flora, fauna, and spectacular geology of the region. The book also covers the possible future paths for the park in light of global climate change.

This book is an authoritative work on the ecology of some of America’s most iconic large mammals in a natural environment - and of the interplay between climate, landscape, and animals in the interior of the world’s first and most famous national park.Central Yellowstone includes the range of one of the largest migratory populations of bison in North America as well as a unique elk herd that remains in the park year round. These populations live in a varied landscape with seasonal and often extreme patterns of climate and food abundance. The reintroduction of wolves into the park a decade ago resulted in scientific and public controversy about the effect of large predators on their prey, a debate closely examined in the book. Introductory chapters describe the geography, geology and vegetation of the ecosystem. The elk and bison are then introduced and their population ecology described both pre- and post– wolf introduction, enabling valuable insights into the demographic and behavioral consequences for their ungulate prey. Subsequent chapters describe the wildlife-human interactions and show how scientific research can inform the debate and policy issues surrounding winter recreation in Yellowstone. The book closes with a discussion of how this ecological knowledge can be used to educate the public, both about Yellowstone itself and about science, ecology and the environment in general. Yellowstone National Park exemplifies some of the currently most hotly debated and high-profile ecological, wildlife management, and environmental policy issues and this book will have broad appeal not only to academic ecologists, but also to natural resource students, managers, biologists, policy makers, administrators and the general public. Unrivalled descriptions of ecological processes in a world famous ecosystem, based on information from 16 years of painstaking field work and collaborations among 66 scientists and technical experts and 15 graduate studies Detailed studies of two charismatic North American herbivore species – elk and bison Description of the restoration of wolves into central Yellowstone and their ecological interactions with their elk and bison prey Illustrated with numerous evocative colour photographs and stunning maps

The world's first national park is constantly changing. How we understand and respond to recent events putting species under stress will determine the future of ecosystems millions of years in the making. Marshaling expertise from over 30 contributors, Yellowstone's Wildlife in Transition examines three primary challenges to the park's ecology.