Building Back Better:

Examining the Effect of Wood Bison on Vegetative Biodiversity and Succession in the Ronald Lake Herd

Abstract

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The Ronald Lake Bison Herd, located south of Wood Buffalo National Park (Figure 1), is a unique Wood Bison population that is both genetically distinct and disease-free. As the population consists of approximately 300 individuals, the herd is of importance from both a conservation/management and research standpoint. We wanted to know how the bison affected vegetative biodiversity, and if they act as ecosystem engineers, creating better habitat and forage opportunity for themselves. We assessed species richness & abundance, and forage by community composition.

Figure 1. Locations of free-ranging Wood Bison populations in Canada. The Ronald Lake Herd's range has been indicated with a red circle.

We found that the bison affect biodiversity positively except in the cases of intense continual use. We also found that their historic use of some patches may be creating more favorable foraging opportunities. This is because those patches have a greater proportion of preferred bison forage (graminoids) when compared to other areas of bison use. Lastly, based on our plant community analysis, the recovering loaf treatment is seemingly moving towards a community distinct from both the forest and meadow treatments, as it does not closely resemble either, indicating that the herd may be having an effect on successional pathways.

While the results of our study cannot tell us with certainty whether the Ronald Lake herd are creating a more suitable habitat for themselves simply through their own activity, we can say that our data does provide evidence of this possibility. More studies would be required to answer our research questions.

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