How to Bring Biodiversity Back to American Prairies

This group has a plan to ‘rewild’ America’s prairieland.
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The American Prairie Reserve is addressing biodiversity loss on America's prairies by creating 'the largest nature reserve in the contiguous U.S. as a refuge for people and wildlife' on the grasslands of Northeastern Montana. The nonprofit works with local ranchers, Native American tribes, and other communities in Montana to rewild the grasslands in a 'if you build they will come' scenario.
#Prairie #Biodiversity #Wildlife #Earth #Environment #Science #NowThis
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[@LiterallyOverTheHillAdventures]

One animal I always see left out in discussions about rewilding the American Prairie is the beaver. If one were to believe Lewis & Clarks Journals, every stream and small river was not much more that large series of beaver swamps, one beaver colony after another creating huge oases of biodiversity.

[@spjr99]

yes sir

[@brianstaley6391]

This should be a larger part of rewilding the American west in general. One of the reasons wildfire severity has gone up is the lack of of beaver-created wetlands hemming in drier ranges. A lot more benefits too!

[@Guacamoc]

This is my life’s dream. To do conservation work or even rewild the mammoth steppe with megafauna before humans entered the picture

[@comareborn8734]

Hoping Pleistocene park expands and is successful.

[@schechter01]

Sounds marvelous but how are you gonna keep humans out of the park? Because that is what's necessary for the biome to exist. The organization in the video has good intentions but they're facing the same problem...soon as humans move into the space, they ruin it. It's been that way since we first evolved.

[@lazarzilla4871]

@@schechter01 I afraid there’s no answer to that

[@AzzaYCF]

This seems great! I liked listening to the man and his enthusiastic tone. Be great to see how it all turns out.

[@itsfhproductions5290]

0:35 indigenous peoples never lost that knowledge but everyone else has and/or doesn’t listen to the indigenous peoples

[@DGT73]

Happening in the Scottish highlands too...not so many bison or zebra though

[@deinsilverdrac8695]

The only difference is that Prairie are not a good thing in Scotland It was nearly entirely forested ans had eagle, owl, beaver, auroch, bison, wolverine, tarpan, wolves, bears, mink, Martens, wildcat, lynx, mouse and boar And also you have way too many red/roe/fallow deer that kill all the young tree and stop the forest regeneration If you put fence trees grow from nowhere Scottland forest are old and can't regrow Because there's no predator such as lynx Wolf and even wildcat are on the brink of extinction

[@alexmoore9580]

@@deinsilverdrac8695 thankfully they're being rewilded in multiple areas so hopefully in a few decades large chunks of the old Caledonian forest will be back from extinction

[@nutyyyy]

@@deinsilverdrac8695 Yes they want to reintroduce wolves to cut down on the deer population as a start.

[@deinsilverdrac8695]

@@nutyyyy i would love to see it happen but there's 90% chance it won't because for hunter, it's concurrence for farmer, it's a pest that kill sheeps and cows even if here, unlike in France, you choose where, when and how many wolves will be release, so you can prepare the farmer to this wolves reintroductionis what ecologists want, not what governement is ready to do for rewilding, this is why they took lynx as principal target, they can said, no need of wolves we choose lynx, and also because lynx are way more shy and avoid human, they can kill sheep but it's easy to make them fear human counter attack. but if they do this reintroduction i imagine a Yellowstone situation, where wolves would have transform the landscape back into forest with red squirrel, pine marten, wild cat, boar, owl, eagle, , beave, otter, badger, birds, woodpecker (well if you release them too because you know half of these species are extinct in uk or on the brink of extinction) you could also just take houndreds of boars, red squirrel, beaver, pine marten from France, Spain, Germany were they're quite common that's fastezr than just take some individual and wait 40 years for the population to be stable (with poor genetic diversity) and reproduce wild cat in captivity to release them in the wild and let's oak jays and red squirrel do the job of reforestation for free, just place chestnut and tree seed in a fenced area wait some years and voila

[@zodinthara7925]

I read an account of a pioneer of the prairies, he wrote,' thousands and thousands of buffaloes, as far as the eye can see'.

[@gavinnaylor786]

Much of the prairie land was essentially given to ranchers who migrated there. And their offspring inherited it. I don't see any reason why this land can't simple be taken back. If farmers aren't using it, or they're leasing it out to corporations that are grazing it or mono cropping we could step in and take it back. Leave them the 2 acres the home sits on and take the rest back to rewild it. Something similar happens when canals or highways are built. Let's do it for something more valuable.

[@Gobbygiblet]

In addition to expanding populations of native animal species, but what is the feasibility of introducing Takhi horse, Onagers, Kiangs, Guanacos, Vicuñas and bactrian camels, as proxies for their extinct counterparts?

[@irnbru5496]

Re wild the U.K. I have been a huge supporter of for years glad America is on board

[@yerman0564]

And Ireland too.

[@garden.of.thistles]

love it!

[@zeideerskine3462]

Native Americans greatly shaped the landscapes they were living in and used garden/park style agriculture even on the great plains of North America. Your idea of what the "wild state" of nature is may require some rethinking. You may do well working with Native American communities on traditional plant and herd management practices.

[@carolinejayes157]

Bring it on re wild America .to help different species of plants ,insects ,birds etc.

[@lostastronaut3632]

That is amazing

[@johnkrasinski7397]

Biodiverse Lives Matter

[@ramonbenitez1323]

They should bring back elephants, lions, camels and cheetahs, they too used to roam the prairies thousands of years ago which is a tick of the clock in geological time, that’s why there are many empty areas in American ecosystems, they wouldn’t be invasive they’d be reintroduced species

[@ramonbenitez1323]

@Just A Random Comment cheetahs would have a hard time with that there’s no denying it, however if weather is the case then perhaps some of Mexico’s grasslands could be a better fit, it doesn’t snow in those areas and it does get a bit hot but no where near as hot as in Africa, it may actually be an ideal place for a lot of them

[@beastmaster0934]

@@ramonbenitez1323 And since Mexico’s grasslands are a sort of “middle ground” between the cold climate of the prairies. And the balmy, humid climate of the African Serengeti. If given enough time, they could adapt to where they can travel through the colder climate without issue.

[@ramonbenitez1323]

@@beastmaster0934 very true, I think even northern parts of Nevada where there’s grass land would even be an ideal place, poaching isn’t much of an issue in the US and Mexico as it is in Africa

[@HsienKoMeiLingFormerYANG]

Well have work. Lovebird reintroduced in New mexico, arizona left behind former range and Parrot in other places.

[@Wildman-lc3ur]

It's quite unlikely

[@danielpicassomunoz2752]

What's their take on holistic planed grazing, the savory institute and ecological outcome certification?

[@alejandrocarrillo8374]

That is the missing part. Bison do overgraze as well.

[@sergiothegrower]

Bill gates needs to do this / worlds larger farm owner instead of poisoning earth

[@panagiotis1519]

Great work :)

[@naakatube]

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@kfl611]

And native plants restoration - for the bees and monarch butterflies.

[@monsterkajiu1912]

This needs to happen in Appalachia with proxies of extinct animals!

[@peterpeirce1069]

I take issue with the claim that it was a "fully functioning prairie ecosystem" just 200 years ago. Most of the megafauna that plays a keystone role in maintain the prairie went extinct not when US settlers came to the land in the 1800s, but when the first humans began to settle the land 10,000 years ago. Giant sloths, short-faced bears, American lions, smilodons, mammoths, American cheetahs, dire wolves, camels, jaguar, and more all went extinct (or were extirpated from North America) thousands of years ago, largely due to human influence. Restoring the prairie to the state it was in 200 years ago is a good first step, but it's far from the end goal. Restoring all of those creatures may not be possible, but introducing analogs would be hugely beneficial to the ecosystem.

[@gavinnaylor786]

This human caused extinction of the megafauna is pretty quickly falling out of favour. There was very little evidence to support it in the first place. Essentially archeologists said humans arrived around that time, they eat animals, so that must be what happened. When you start to dig a little deeper the math doesn't really work out.

[@veganforlife1203]

🙏🍀🍀🍀🍀💚💙💛

[@christophermacdonald1992]

Is it rewilding of only extant species or will species like the South American camelids be also reintroduced to increase biodiversity?

[@Gobbygiblet]

I was thinking the same thing, Guanacos, Vicuñas and Bactrian camels could thrive there. Also wild equids like Onager, Kiang and Tahki horses could live there too.

[@tomm4073]

Better not for now. Or at all for that matter. Look at Australia where camels are a pest.

[@monsterkajiu1912]

​@@tomm4073 the difference between Australia and America is that Australia doesn't have any native large predators while America has native large predators like gray wolves, grizzly bears and cougars.

[@coltonsnyder1262]

💜💜💜

[@Greenmahn333]

👍

[@shreyaramachandran261]

👍👏

[@timmylittle2406]

You dont have too do a dang thing but leave them alone and it will happen. I am an hour away from the wifes family ranch in colorado. There are foxes, bob cat, bear out there. Just because you dont see them doesnt mean they are not there. Just leave them alone and they will do there thing.

[@zodinthara7925]

They dont talk about that amount that can be hiddwn from sight. They talk about the scales that early pioneer have encountered. ' buffaloes, as far as the eye can see' millions, man, millions. Dream big, and you will be with big result

[@nutyyyy]

Pretty sure there's not millions of bison, lions etc all hiding down the road...

[@schechter01]

Humans never leave them alone.

[@owlan99]

Needs Mustangs and camels

[@TheFireFoxTribe]

If the mammoth cloning works let them be in America's too

[@andrewz.3432]

I think that's the goal in America, Canada, and Europe. Although we would have to ban hunters from ruining these biodiversity projects. I think that overall bringing back indigenous species or pre-historic indigenous species as well would be a great plan for the environment. Besides these species were here thousands of years before settlers came a ruined it all. I especially would love to see wolves expand again. European settlement nearly wiped them out to extinction due to European folklore painting wolves out to be heinous creatures. When obviously their not. I just hope we'll get to see our forest and wildlife resonate and flourish the landscape once again.🌲🦣🦬🦌🐎🐐🐿🦫🐇🐢🦨🦡🦃🦆🦉🦅🦔🐻🐺🦊🦝

[@orlandobanto5781]

NoAh lacture

[@melaniekeeling7462]

💜💙💚💛🧡❤💖

[@messiahsgate1172]

What about musk ox too? There were lots of animals that were lost 10 thousand years ago that we can find and reintroduce to the damaged American ecosystem, some animals we can get from other countries to act as a procky such as camels, musk oxen and elephants so on. Of course this have to be done very careful and the animals placed in a proper habitat.

[@tomm4073]

Great idea! Tigers would fit in nicely too as predators. Why not?

[@mnkash2007]

@@tomm4073 I think tigers would be more suited to the forest as the saber tooth tiger preferred forest but would also live in long grass plains predators like lions would be suited for the praries

[@infomotionfittv837]

I just pray the americans dont turn their own made reserves into hunting grounds.

[@LiterallyOverTheHillAdventures]

Much of the land they are talking about is public land, largely BLM and State public lands. You need the support of the people who live there, who are pretty much all hunters, to have even a small possibility of this happening. There is also a couple of large tracts of land that this abuts to and what this organization wants to encompass that are funded by hunters and were created for hunting......properly managed hunting should be allowed, as it is, by the American Prairie Reserve.

[@jamessparkman6604]

Hey after that I think he should take it dna samples from their blood to discover and decode the dna recipes of their extinct brethren

[@jamessparkman6604]

Hey I think only blood samples from bison horses lions bears just unlock Some of the extinct species they are related Like short faced bear’s cave lions ancient bison pretty much to create an Ice Age style Jurassic Park

[@nicholasniva5192]

Ideally don't let the public in too much because soon we're gonna need to reintroduce the saber tooth tiger and such to balance the ecosystem

[@Wildman-lc3ur]

Wouldn't say anything about bringing the smilodon. The American prairie had it's own batch of predators Including the extinct subspecies of grey wolf that could be easily exchanged for the wolves that live in the rocky mountains, the cougar could also travel independently and lastly the grizzly bear could be reintroduced into the landscape Aswell. Predators are quite difficult to reintroduce as you have to deal with the state government for approval and a bunch of angry farmers who are against any form of large predator

[@mnkash2007]

@@Wildman-lc3ur i think you forgot the jaguar who got to as north as colorado in recent times

[@Wildman-lc3ur]

@@mnkash2007 but the thing is,it's Montana and not Southern Colorado. This isn't pleistocene rewilding,it's holocene rewilding Think more Yellowstone and less African serengeti

[@mnkash2007]

@@Wildman-lc3ur well I wasn't just talking about Montanna I was talking about the whole great plains which was Alberta Canda to southern Texas and jaguars lived in Colorado until the 1800 or 1900 so I am not talking about the Pleistocene if I did, I would be including lions and cheetahs

[@Wildman-lc3ur]

@Teddy's gameplay yet jaguars didn't live in the northern great plains

[@errinfrancis743]

Though this is good, they should NOT open rehabilitated land for public access...... Humans truly never learn...

[@leonamay8776]

It's easier to get support for it if they do. Opening up certain parts of it probably won't be too bad. Especially if it's for activities like hiking or canoeing.

[@TigerWolfLilly177]

Where there’s bison there’ll be wolves

[@ThomasBomb45]

Wolves are part of biodiversity

[@shoobumu]

Hopefully coyotes will return as well!

[@anonymdovvalross1336]

without predators, it will just be overgrazed

[@alexmoore9580]

wolves are a good thing

[@Wildman-lc3ur]

@@shoobumu they already have Coyotes are very common in many different habitats

[@jamesherron9969]

No it's going to keep growing weeds cuz the native grasses are long gone and less if you plan on tilling the land Andres eating it

[@ceceliablair9177]

Good show but the dumb music in the background is ugly and stressful. Why not just have a soundtrack of birds, like Western Meadowlarks? Sparing, single calls. A subtle stream or wind, maybe other animal sounds would be good. Not overdone but natural.

[@owlan99]

The human free wilderness is a colonialist fantasy. These 'wild' pre European landscapes were very much human created landscapes

[@eliletts8149]

It is great that the organization is focusing on rewilding the North American prairie in Montana to it's recent historical richness. However, a full rewilding of Montana's prairies would have to take inspiration from prehistoric times, particularly the pleistocene epoch. That would require pleistocene rewilding, using extant as proxies for now extinct species. However, I commend the organization for aiming for rewilding the prairies of Montana to a recent historical level. After all, we need to begin somewhere to get to the cherries of the cake! 🦬