Pleistocene Park

Common card · No. 331832

Pleistocene Park (Russian: Плейстоценовый парк, romanized: Pleystotsenovyy park) is a nature reserve in northeastern Siberia, Russia, where Russian scientists Sergey and Nikita Zimov are attempting to re-create the Mammoth steppe that existed during the last glacial period by repopulating the area with large herbivores, in order to mitigate climate change. The Zimovs hypothesise that the change from tundra to grassland will cool the permafrost and reduce emission of greenhouse gases. According to them, removal and trampling of snow by animals would reduce the insulation of the permafrost. Increased albedo in grasslands versus forests, would reflect more energy back and keep the ground cooler. To study this, they released several species of large herbivores and monitored their effect on the local flora and permafrost. Preliminary results show that the ecologically low-grade tundra biome converted into a productive grassland biome.

Read on Wikipedia · Image Mauricio Antón, CC BY 2.5