Biology and Ecology of Yellowstone National Park

A portion of The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, a region that includes several National Forests and wilderness areas in those forests, is referred to as the Yellowstone National Park. Outside of Alaska, this is the largest piece of undeveloped land remaining in the United States. In fact, this is considered by many to be the largest ecosystem in the northern temperate zone. All of the species that originally inhabited the area now remain in the area as the wolf introduction program in 1990 has reestablished them into the wild within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

Flora

There are currently 1700 different species of plants that are native to this park. There have been 170 non-native exotic species that also reside within the park. Eighty percent of the forested areas are covered with Lodgepole pine trees. Other trees, including doglas fir and whitebark pine, you will be able to find scattered about throughout. Unfortunately, white pine blister rust, a fungus, is killing several of the whitebark pine trees in the area but has been confined to the north and west. Seven percent of the whitebark pine trees within the park have been affected. This is in comparison to a complete infestation in northwest Montana. The most common deciduous tree is the willow and aspen. Aspen trees have been on the decline significantly within the last century. This was caused by the extinction of the wolves. Now that wolves have been reintroduced into the habitat there, elks have altered their eating habits which have kept the aspen's growing.

May and September you will find that a lot of flowering plants bloom within the park. Yellowstone is the only place where you will see a rare flowering plant known as the Yellowstone Sand Verbena. The san verbena is quite odd to find in the area because other closely related flowering plants only reside in warmer climates. The sandy soils are what 8,000 flowering plants call home near the shores of Yellowstone Lake.

There are trillions of individual bacteria form mats in the warm waters of Yellowstone. These bacteria are considered to be the most primitive life forms on earth. These arthropods and flies can live on the mats even during the winter when it is extremely cold. Originally, sulfur was thought to be the cause of the microbes' life existence there. However, in 2005, molecular hydrogen was found by the University of Colorado to be the sustenance.

The Yellowstone hot springs produce something called Thermophilus aquaticus. It is a enzyme that was found to be easily replicated in a lab and great for diagnosing diseases, both infectious and hereditary, and even using it to help identify genetic fingerprints. The ecosystem is not impacted while retrieving these bacteria. Scientists believe that there may be other bacteria found in the hot springs of Yellowstone that may lead to future cures of diseases.

Nutrient resources have thought become scarce due to non-native plants being introduced to the area. Due to roads and common traffic through the parks this has also spread exotic species into the habitat, including the backcountry. Exotic species are often controlled by spraying the soil and uprooting these plants. This is an expensive process due to the time consumption.

Animals of Yellowstone and Wolf reintroduction

The wildlife of Yellowstone is considered to be the best in all of the lower 48 states. The park is home to almost 60 species of mammals. Many of these mammals are endangered, including the gray wolf, lynx, and grizzly bears. There are several other large mammals in the park, including black bear, elk, moose, bison, mule deer, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, and mountain lions. Ranchers do not particularly like the large bison population. They fear that it may transmit diseases to cattle in the area. In fact, a large group of bison have been exposed to a disease that will cause them to miscarry known as brucellosis. This disease has little, or no effect, on the park bison. Up to date, there have been no reported cases of the bison transmitting the disease to domestic livestock.

In Wyoming and North Dakota, however, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has said that the disease was likely spread to cattle there from the bison. Horses and cattle have also have been said to have been exposed to it from elk, which is also a potential carrier of the disease. Yellowstone is one of the last strongholds that bison have after having been close to extinction from the 30 to 60 million that used to roam the United States. In 2003 the bison reached the 4,000 mark after having their population almost diminished to a mere 50 in 1902. The herd within Yellowstone is thought to be one of only four remaining original free roaming herds in North America. The three other herds roam about in Utah's Henry Mountains, South Dakota's Wind Cave National Park, and Albert, Canada's Elk Island.

When the large bison herds are found to be roaming outside the border of the park they are often harassed back into it to protect them from other threats. There were 1,079 bison shot and slaughtered in 1996 and 1997 after they were found to have escaped and were simply to large in number to be moved back into the park. While the ranchers continue to complain about diseases they may carry, animal rights activists claim that this is a cruel practice and that the diseases are far less than what the ranchers claim them to be. Private ranchers do lease certain parts of the National forest for their own cattle grazing, however, ecologists claim that these are natural areas for the bison and that when leaving the park they are often wanting to go to these natural areas. APHIS claims that brucellosis can be eliminated by vaccinating the bison and elk herds.