Mapping Willow Distribution Across the Northern Range of Yellowstone National Park

Willow on Yellowstone's northern range: evidence for a trophic cascade?

Reintroduction of wolves (Canis lupus) to Yellowstone National Park in 1995-1996 has been argued to promote a trophic cascade by altering elk (Cervus elaphus) density, habitat-selection patterns, and behavior that, in turn, could lead to changes within the plant communities used by elk. We sampled two species of willow (Salix boothii and S. geyeriana) on the northern winter range to determine w...

Hydrologic regime and herbivory stabilize an alternative state in Yellowstone National Park.

A decline in the stature and abundance of willows during the 20th century occurred throughout the northern range of Yellowstone National Park, where riparian woody-plant communities are key components in multiple-trophic-level interactions. The potential causes of willow decline include climate change, increased elk browsing coincident with the loss of an apex predator, the gray wolf, and an ab...

A Landscape Analysis of Gene Flow and Population Reductions in the Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum) Across the Northern Range of Yellowstone National Park

Linking wolves to willows via risk-sensitive foraging by ungulates in the northern Yellowstone ecosystem

After an absence of approximately 70 years, gray wolves (Canis lupus) were re-introduced into Yellowstone National Park in the mid-1990s. We studied the potential influence of wolf/ungulate interactions upon willow (Salix spp.) growth in the valleys of the Gallatin and Lamar Rivers, as well as Slough and Soda Butte Creeks, in the northern Yellowstone ecosystem. When we compared willow heights f...

Recovering Riparian Plant Communities with Wolves in Northern Yellowstone, U.S.A

Gray wolves (Canis lupus) were extirpated from Yellowstone National Park in the 1920s. The ensuing seven decades marked a period when wild ungulates, principally Elk (Cervus elaphus), extensively used woody browse species in the upper Gallatin and northern winter ranges, thus limiting the capability of establishing plants to grow more than 100 cm in height. Following the reintroduction of wolve...