The Ecological Buffalo: On the Trail of a Keystone Species
On the 14th of July, 2008 Johane captured a photograph of a herd ofplains bison grazing the native prairie in Grasslands National Park. As itturned out, this was to be the first of thousands of photographs she took onour journey to explore and understand the complex ecological functions thatbison provide to the habitats in which they lived – and where they still livetoday.
Over the next 14 years this journey took us to most of the parks and refuges withbison across most of North America. From the New England hardwood forests southto the Florida panhandle and west through the cross-timbers and tallgrassprairies and into the Great Plains, we poked our noses into an amazing array oflandscapes and ecosystems. searching for the species bison share space and timewith.
From the dry deserts of the southwest we travelled northwards, deep into the heartof the vast boreal forests of Canada and northwest into the incredibly vastsedge meadows of central Alaska. In ourresearch for The Ecological Buffalo, we discovered that there are at least 384terrestrial mammals in North America, and of these about 70% (about 270species) lived within the historical range of bison. Every one of these wouldbe influenced in one way or another by bison.
We could not photograph or write about all of the wildlife species bison wouldhave interacted with, but with more than 180 stunning photographs, 30 illustrationsand in the text, we present examples of relationships bison have with 60mammal, 51 bird, 8 amphibian, 5 reptile, 17 plant and 29 invertebrates species.
The culmination of this 14 year-long project is The Ecological Buffalo: On thetrail of a keystone species. It is our hope that when you have read the bookand enjoyed the imagery, you will have a better understanding about howconnected we all are with this magnificent species, and perhaps, it will makeyou pay a little more attention to the intricacies, and fragility of nature.
Johane and I will be at the International Bison Conference in Saskatoon, where thebook will be officially launched. Stop by so we can sign your copy.
