A temperate forest and grassland ecosystem in the northern Rocky Mountains of the United States, centered on Yellowstone National Park, the world's first national park, and sitting atop one of the largest volcanic systems on Earth, whose underlying heat powers the ecosystem's geysers and hot springs. Yellowstone is one of the most complete large temperate ecosystems remaining in the continental United States, holding nearly all of the large mammal species present at the time of European settlement, and it is the site of one of conservation's best-known case studies: the reintroduction of the gray wolf in 1995, after the species had been eliminated from the park for seventy years, which reduced overgrazing by elk and allowed streamside vegetation, beaver and songbirds to recover across the following decades.
Facts
Classification
Biogeographic Realm Protected Status Area (sq km) Connections
Demonstrates
NPS Yellowstone documents beaver ponds and flooding creating conditions favorable to willow and aspen over the previous vegetation, a landscape-scale successional shift tied directly to the park's beaver colony history.
Source Beaver (Yellowstone National Park, National Park Service)
Why this is disputed. The popular narrative credits 1995 wolf reintroduction with a cascading recovery of aspen, willow and beaver, but ecologists caution the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is too open and complex to serve as a clean textbook example, and some changes (creek incision blocking willow recovery) have not reversed even where grazing pressure has.
Source Trophic Cascade (Wikipedia)
Hosts
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Source Wikipedia: Bald Eagle
Source Beaver (Yellowstone National Park, National Park Service)
Source Wikidata: Mountain Goat
Additional Source Yellowstone National Park (Wikipedia)Article text
Source Bobcat (Wikipedia)
Source Brown Trout (Wikipedia)
Source Cougar (Wikipedia)
Source Coyote (Wikipedia)
Source Wikidata: Mountain Goat
Additional Source Yellowstone National Park (Wikipedia)Article text
Source World Wildlife Fund
Source World Wildlife Fund
Source Wikidata: Mountain Goat
Additional Source Yellowstone National Park (Wikipedia)Article text
Source Wikidata: Mountain Goat
Additional Source Yellowstone National Park (Wikipedia)Article text
Source Nanoarchaeum equitans (Wikipedia)
Source Wikidata: Mountain Goat
Additional Source Yellowstone National Park (Wikipedia)Article text
Source Wikidata: Mountain Goat
Additional Source Yellowstone National Park (Wikipedia)Article text
Source Wikidata: Mountain Goat
Additional Source Yellowstone National Park (Wikipedia)Article text
Source Wikidata: Mountain Goat
Additional Source Yellowstone National Park (Wikipedia)Article text
In Biome
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Sources
1. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.britannica.com/place/Yellowstone-National-Park, park dimensions paragraph
The park, which forms a squarelike rectangle with an irregular eastern side, is 63 miles (101 km) from north to south and 54 miles (87 km) from east to west at its widest point and covers an area of 3,472 square miles (8,992 square km).
- Biogeographic realm: nearctic (derived from location stated in entity description)
Protected status (stated plainly in the entity own recorded description)
A temperate forest and grassland ecosystem in the northern Rocky Mountains of the United States, centered on Yellowstone National Park, the world's first national park, and sitting atop one of the largest volcanic systems on Earth, whose underlying heat powers the ecosystem's geysers and hot springs.
- In Biome: Temperate Forest
- Hosts: American Bison
View the Source Beaver (Yellowstone National Park, National Park Service)
Trophic Cascade (Wikipedia)
WikipediaDemonstrates: Trophic CascadeQuote, Demonstrates: Trophic Cascade
In reality, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is too complex to serve as an example of a straightforward trophic cascade.
World Wildlife Fund
Nanoarchaeum equitans (Wikipedia)
Hosts: Nanoarchaeum equitans, Wikipedia intro: "ins of this microbe were also found on the Sub-polar Mid Oceanic Ridge, and in the Obsidian Pool in Yellowstone National Park. Since it grows in temperatures ap..."View the Source Cougar (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHosts: Cougar, Hunting and dietQuote, Hosts: Cougar, Hunting and diet
Investigations at Yellowstone National Park showed that elk and mule deer were the cougar's primary prey; the prey base is shared with the park's wolves, with which the cougar competes for resources.
Coyote (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHosts: Coyote, Enemies and competitorsQuote, Hosts: Coyote, Enemies and competitors
One study conducted in Yellowstone National Park, where both species coexist, concluded that the coyote population in the Lamar River Valley declined by 39% following the reintroduction of wolves in the 1990s, while coyote populations in wolf inhabited areas of the Grand Teton National Park are 33% lower than in areas where they are absent.
Elk (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHosts: Elk, MigrationQuote, Hosts: Elk, Migration
The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem elk herds comprise as many as 40,000 individuals.
Wikipedia: Bald Eagle
WikipediaHosts: Bald Eagle, HabitatQuote, Hosts: Bald Eagle, Habitat
Trees used for nesting in the Greater Yellowstone area average 27 m (89 ft) high.
Bobcat (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHosts: Bobcat, Hunting and dietQuote, Hosts: Bobcat, Hunting and diet
In Yellowstone, a large number of kills (15 of 20) were elk calves, but prey up to eight times the bobcat's weight could be successfully taken.
Brown Trout (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHosts: Brown Trout, AnglingQuote, Hosts: Brown Trout, Angling
Introductions of brown trout into the American West created new angling opportunities, none so successful from an angling perspective as was the introduction of browns into the upper Firehole River in Yellowstone National Park in 1890.
Wolf (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHosts: Wolf, North AmericaQuote, Hosts: Wolf, North America
Wolves were given protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, and have since returned to parts of their former range thanks to both natural recolonizations and reintroductions in Yellowstone and Idaho.
Yellowstone National Park (Wikipedia)
Hosts: Mountain Goat, Article text
Other large mammals include the bison (often referred to as buffalo), elk, moose, mule deer, white-tailed deer, mountain goat, pronghorn, and bighorn sheep.
Hosts: Osprey, Article text
Other birds, considered species of special concern because of their rarity in Yellowstone, include the common loon, harlequin duck, osprey, peregrine falcon and the trumpeter swan.
Hosts: Tiger Salamander, Article text
Four species of amphibians are present: the boreal chorus frog, tiger salamander, western toad and Columbia spotted frog.
Hosts: Western Toad, Article text
Four species of amphibians are present: the boreal chorus frog, tiger salamander, western toad and Columbia spotted frog.
Hosts: Whitebark Pine, Article text
Other conifers, such as subalpine fir, Engelmann spruce, Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir and whitebark pine, are found in scattered groves throughout the park.
Hosts: Engelmann Spruce, Article text
Other conifers, such as subalpine fir, Engelmann spruce, Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir and whitebark pine, are found in scattered groves throughout the park.
Hosts: Lodgepole Pine, Article text
Of the eight conifer tree species documented, lodgepole pine forests cover 80% of the total forested areas.
Hosts: Bighorn Sheep, Article text
Hopewell grave goods include not only obsidian, but also copper shaped to resemble the horns of bighorn sheep native to the Rockies, which suggests the Hopewell may have visited Yellowstone themselves.
View the SourceDissenting Readings (1 dissenting reading)
Demonstrates: Trophic Cascade
The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is too complex and too open to outside influences to serve as a clean example of a straightforward trophic cascade; some changes attributed to wolves, such as blocked willow recovery from creek incision, have not reversed even where elk browsing pressure has eased.
A dissenting reading, from a reviewerTrophic Cascade (Wikipedia), Wikipedia
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.