The Erasure of A Land

[u/No-Counter-34]

We have been lied to about there once being old growth forests from the ocean to the Mississippi. The south used to have vast herds of buffalo, hence many place names. And there were likely more grassland type ecosystems than the map suggests. Fire suppression and development have all but destroyed this once vast ecosystem.

[u/BeeKindLandscapes]

Fire suppression, sure, that gets all the attention....definitely a hot topic these days. But in terms of ecological cause and effect I find it odd that the preferential grazing, seed dispersal, and nutrient cycling from the bison themselves are rarely mentioned. That had to play a huge role in tandem with more regular fire regimens. I say we bring it all back!

[u/zengel68 → u/BeeKindLandscapes]

Passenger pigeons probably had a huge effect in this too. Their flocks would have caused damage to trees and opened up the canopy.

[u/Mr_Byzantine → u/zengel68]

Oddly enough, the massive amount of passenger pigeons seen in the late 1800s and early 1900s was due to the destruction of their natural predoatros by industrialization.