Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Can bison play a role in conserving habitat for endangered sandhills species in Canada?

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Biodiversity and Conservation Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Relative to their cultivated surroundings, sandhills of the Canadian prairies represent intact, heterogeneous ecosystems. These extensive tracts of sand dunes and native prairie are biodiversity hotspots, which act as refugia for a variety of specialized wildlife species. However, due to changes in climate and suppression of natural disturbance, the dunes have experienced drastic rates of stabilization over the past 200 years, such that the proportion of open sand in the region is currently less than 1%. This continuing trend is resulting in a gradual loss of sparsely vegetated, sandy habitat for many uncommon, specialist species, including a number that are considered to be at risk of extirpation or extinction by COSEWIC (Canada’s list agency). Without management to conserve active sandhill habitat the future long-term survival of rare and imperilled dune-dependent plants and animals is questionable. In this article we propose that the re-introduction of disturbance to southern Canadian prairie sandhills, specifically sandhill use by bison, might be effective in restoring and sustaining actively-eroding sandhill habitat to support some threatened and endangered species. We outline several lines of evidence (geological, geomorphological, archaeological, and historical accounts) indicating bison occupied sandhills and actively modified these ecosystems until European settlement of the prairies. We argue that bison were attracted to sandhills for a number of reasons, and that in great numbers they had considerable influence on sandhills ecosystem functions. Behaviours such as grazing, trailing, wallowing, horning, and trampling created a patchwork mosaic of disturbance effects. We hypothesize that it may be beneficial to reintroduce bison to sandhills ecosystems in the Canadian prairies to restore biodiversity at all levels.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Barkley FA, Smith CC (1934) A preliminary study of Buffalo wallows in the vicinity of Norman Oklahoma. Proc Oklahoma Acad Sci 14:47–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Biondini ME, Steuter AA, Hamilton RG (1999) Bison use of fire-managed remnant prairies. J Range Manag 52:454–461

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowers JE (1982) The plant ecology of inland dunes in western North America. J Arid Environ 5:199–220

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowyer T, Manteca X, Hoymork A (1998) Scent marking in American bison: morphological and spatial characteristics of wallows and rubbed trees. In: Irby L, Knight J (eds) International symposium on bison ecology and management in North America. Montana State University, Bozeman, pp 81–91

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyd M (2002) Identification of anthropogenic burning in the paleoecological record of the northern prairies: a new approach. Ann Assoc Am Geogr 92:471–487

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyd DP, Gates CC (2006) A brief review of the status of Plains Bison in North America. J West 45:15–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Brockway DG, Gatewood RG, Paris RB (2002) Restoring fire as an ecological process in shortgrass prairie ecosystems: initial effects of prescribed burning during the dormant and growing seasons. J Environ Manag 65:135–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Callenbach E (1996) Bring back the buffalo!: a sustainable future for America’s Great Plains. Island Press, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell C, Campbell ID, Blyth CB, McAndrews JH (1994) Bison extirpation may have caused aspen expansion in Western Canada. Ecography 17:360–362

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins SL, Barber SC (1985) Effects of disturbance on diversity in mixed-grass prairie. Vegetation 64:87–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins SL, Uno GE (1983) The effect of early spring burning on vegetation in buffalo wallows. Bull Torrey Bot Club 110:474–481

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coppedge BR, Shaw JH (1997) Effects of horning and rubbing behaviour by bison (Bison bison) on woody vegetation in a tallgrass prairie landscape. Am Midl Nat 138:189–196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coppedge BR, Fuhlendorf SD, Engle DM et al (1999) Grassland soil depressions: relict bison wallows or inherent landscape heterogeneity? Am Midl Nat 142:382–392

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • COSEWIC (2000) COSEWIC Assessment and status report on the hairy prairie-clover Dalea villosa var. villosa in Canada. Report to the committee on the status of endangered wildlife in Canada, Ottawa, vi+, p 22

  • COSEWIC (2002a) COSEWIC Assessment and update status report on the Western spiderwort Tradescantia occidentalis in Canada. Report to the committee on the status of endangered wildlife in Canada, Ottawa, vi+, p 25

  • COSEWIC (2002b) COSEWIC Assessment and update status report on the small-flowered sand-verbena Tripterocalyx micranthus in Canada. Report to the committee on the status of endangered wildlife in Canada, Ottawa, vi+, p 26

  • COSEWIC (2005) COSEWIC assessment and status report on the white flower moth Schinia bimatris in Canada. Report to the committee on the status of endangered wildlife in Canada, Ottawa, vi+, p 20

  • COSEWIC (2006a) COSEWIC assessment and update status report on the smooth goosefoot Chenopodium subglabrum in Canada. Report to the committee on the status of endangered wildlife in Canada, Ottawa, vi+, p 33

  • COSEWIC (2006b) COSEWIC assessment and update status report on the Ord’s Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys ordii in Canada. Report to the committee on the status of endangered wildlife in Canada, Ottawa, vii+, p 34

  • COSEWIC (2007a) COSEWIC assessment and status report on the Dusky Dune Moth Copablepharon longipenne in Canada. Report to the committee on the status of endangered wildlife in Canada, Ottawa, vii+, p 33

  • COSEWIC (2007b) COSEWIC assessment and status report on the pale yellow Dune Moth Copablepharon grandis in Canada. Report to the committee on the status of endangered wildlife in Canada, Ottawa, vii+, p 28

  • David PP (1971) The Brookdale road section and its significance in the chronological studies of dune activities in the Brandon Sand Hills of Manitoba. Geol Surv Can 9:293–299 (special paper)

    Google Scholar 

  • Dean WE, Ahlbrandt TS, Anderson RY et al (1996) Regional aridity in North America during the middle Holocene. Holocene 6:145–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Denslow JS (1985) Disturbance-mediated coexistence of species. In: Pickett STA, White PS (eds) The ecology of natural disturbance and patch dynamics. Academic Press, Orlando, pp 307–323

    Google Scholar 

  • England RE, Devos A (1969) Influence of animals on pristine conditions on the Canadian grasslands. J Range Manag 22:87–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Epp HT (1984) Ecological edges and archaeological site location in Saskatchewan, Canada. N Am Archaeol 5:323–336

    Google Scholar 

  • Epp HT (1986) Prehistoric settlement response to the Harris Sand Hills, Saskatchewan, Canada. Plains Anthropol 31:51–62

    Google Scholar 

  • Flores D (1991) Bison ecology and bison diplomacy: the southern plains from 1800 to 1850. J Am History 78:465–485

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flores D (1996) The great contraction. In: Rankin CE (ed) Legacy: new perspectives on the battle of the little Bighorn, Proceedings of the Little Bighorn Legacy symposium. Montana Historical Society Press, Helena, pp 3–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Forman SL, Oglesby R, Webb RS (2001) Temporal and spatial patterns of Holocene dune activity on the Great Plains of North America: megadroughts and climate links. Glob Planet Clim Change 29:1–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foster JE (1992) The metis and the end of the plains buffalo in Alberta. The University of Alberta Press 3:61–77

  • Freese CH, Aune KE, Boyd DP et al (2006) Second chance for the Plains Bison. Biol Conserv 136:175–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frison GC (1978) Prehistoric hunters of the high plains. Academic Press Inc, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Gates CC, Freese CH, Gogan PJP, Kotzman M (2010) American bison: status survey and conservation guidelines 2010. IUCN, Gland

    Google Scholar 

  • Geist V (1996) Buffalo nation: history and legend of the North American bison. Fifth House Publishers, Calgary

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerlanc NM, Kaufman GA (2003) Use of bison wallows by anurans on Konza Prairie. Am Midl Nat 150:158–168

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibson DJ (1989) Effects of animal disturbance on tallgrass prairie vegetation. Am Midl Nat 121:144–154

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gogan PJ, Larter NC, Shaw J et al (2010) General biology, ecology and demographics. In: Gates CC, Freese CH, Gogan PJP, Kotzman M (eds) American bison: status survey and conservation guidelines 2010. IUCN, Gland, pp 39–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton S, Nicholson BA (1999) Ecological islands and vickers focus adaptive transitions in the pre-contact plains of Southwest Manitoba. Plains Anthropol 44:5–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartnett DC, Hickman KR, Fisher Walter LE (1996) Effects of bison grazing, fire, and topography on floristic diversity in tallgrass prairie. J Range Manag 49:413–420

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hartnett DC, Steuter AA, Hickman KR (1997) Comparative ecology of native versus introduced ungulates. In: Knopf F, Samson F (eds) Ecology and conservation of great plains vertebrates. Springer, New York, pp 72–101

    Google Scholar 

  • Havholm KG, Running GL (2005) Stratigraphy, sedimentology, and environmental significance of late mid-Holocene dunes, Lauder Sand Hills, glacial Lake Hind Basin, Southwestern Manitoba. Can J Earth Sci 42:847–863

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hesp P (2002) Foredunes and blowouts: initiation, geomorphology and dynamics. Geomorphology 48:245–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hugenholtz CH, Wolfe SA (2005a) Recent stabilization of active sand dunes on the Canadian prairies and relation to recent climate variations. Geomorphology 68:131–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hugenholtz CH, Wolfe SA (2005b) Biogeomorphic model of dunefield activation and stabilization on the northern Great Plains. Geomorphology 70:53–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hugenholtz CH, Wolfe SA (2006) Morphodynamics and climate controls of two aeolian blowouts on the northern Great Plains, Canada. Earth Surf Proc Land 31:1540–1557

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hugenholtz CH, Wolfe SA (2009) Form-flow interactions of an aeolian saucer blowout. Earth Surf Proc Land 34:919–928

    Google Scholar 

  • Hugenholtz CH, Bender D, Wolfe SA (2010) Declining sand dune activity in the southern Canadian prairies: historical context, controls and ecosystem implications. Aeolian Res 2:71–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hulett GK, Coupland RT, Dix RL (1966) The vegetation of dune sand areas within the grassland region of Saskatchewan. Can J Bot 44:1307–1331

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Isenberg AC (2000) The destruction of the Bison: an environmental history 1750–1920. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones CG, Lawton JH, Shachak M (1994) Organisms as ecosystem engineers. Oikos 69:373–386

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knapp AK, Blair JM, Briggs JM et al (1999) The keystone role of bison in North American tallgrass prairie. Bioscience 49:39–50

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krech S (1999) The ecological Indian: myth and history. Norton and Company Ltd., New York

    Google Scholar 

  • List R, Ceballos G, Curtin C et al (2007) Historic distribution and challenges to bison recovery in the northern Chihuahuan desert. Conserv Biol 21:1487–1494

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Loope DB (1986) Recognizing and utilizing vertebrate tracks in cross section: Cenozoic hoofprints from Nebraska. Palaios 1:141–151

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loope DB, Swinehart J (2000) Thinking like a dune field: geologic history in the Nebraska Sand Hills. Gt Plains Res 10:5–35

    Google Scholar 

  • Lueck D (2002) The extermination and conservation of the American Bison. J Leg Stud 31:S609–S652

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malainey ME, Sherriff BL (1996) Adjusting our perceptions: historical and archaeological evidence of winter on the plains of western Canada. Plains Anthropol 41:333–357

    Google Scholar 

  • Mason JP, Swinehart JB, Loope D (1997) Holocene history of lacustrine and marsh sediments in a dune-blocked drainage, southwestern Nebraska Sand Hills, USA. J Paleolimnol 17:67–83

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matthews A (2002) Where the buffalo roam: restoring America’s Great Plains. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • McMillan BR, Cottam MR, Kaufman DW (2000) Wallowing behaviour of American Bison (Bos Bison) in tallgrass prairie: an examination of alternate explanations. Am Midl Nat 144:159–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer D, Epp HT (1990) North–south interaction in the late prehistory of central Saskatchewan. Plains Anthropol 35:321–345

    Google Scholar 

  • Muhs DR, Stafford TW Jr, Swinehart JB et al (1997) Late Holocene Eolian activity in the mineralogically Mature Nebraska Sand Hills. Quat Res 48:162–176

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Neal BS (2006) Precontact utilization of sandhill environments during the Pelican Lake and Besant phases. Dissertation, University of Saskatchewan

  • Nellis MD, Briggs JM (1997) Modelling spatial dimensions of bison preferences on the Konza Prairie landscape ecology: an overview. Trans Kansas Acad Sci 100:3–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicholson BA, Nicholson S, Running GL, Hamilton S (2002) Vickers focus environmental choices and site location in the parklands of southwestern Manitoba. Geogr Phys Quat 56:315–324

    Google Scholar 

  • Nowak RM (1991) Walker’s mammals of the world, 2nd edn. John Hopkins University Press, Maryland

    Google Scholar 

  • Peck T (2001) Bison ethology and native settlement patterns during the Old Women’s Phase on the Northwestern Plains. Dissertation, University of Calgary

  • Petraitis PS, Latham RE, Niesenbaum RA (1989) The maintenance of species diversity by disturbance. Q Rev Biol 64:393–418

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plumb GE, Dodd JL (1993) Foraging ecology of bison and cattle on a mixed prairie: implications for natural area management. Ecol Appl 3:631–643

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polley WH, Collins SL (1984) Relationships of vegetation and environment in buffalo wallows. Am Midl Nat 112:178–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polley WH, Wallace L (1986) The relationship of plant species heterogeneity to soil variation in buffalo wallows. Southwest Nat 31:493–501

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Potyondi B (1995) In Palliser’s triangle. Purich Publishing, Saskatoon

    Google Scholar 

  • Prugh LR, Hodges KE, Sinclair ARE, Brashares JS (2008) Effect of habitat area and isolation on fragmented animal populations. Proc Natl Acad Sci 105:20770–20775

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ravi S, D’Odorico P, Zobeck TM et al (2007) Feedbacks between fires and wind erosion in heterogeneous arid lands. J Geophys Res 112:G04007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ravi S, D’Odorico P, Wang L et al (2009) Post-fire resource redistribution in desert grasslands: a possible negative feedback on land degradation. Ecosystems 12:434–444

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reinhardt V (1985) Quantitative analysis of wallowing in a confined bison herd. Acta Theriol 30:149–156

    Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds HW, Gates CC, Glaholt R (2003) Bison. In: Chapman J, Feldhamer G (eds) Wild mammals of North America, biology, management, and economics. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, pp 1009–1060

    Google Scholar 

  • Robson DB (2006) A conservation evaluation of the smooth goosefoot, Chenopodium subglabrum (Chenopodiaceae), in Canada. Can Field Nat 120:335–341

    Google Scholar 

  • Roe FG (1970) The North American buffalo: a critical study of the species in its wild state, 2nd edn. University of Toronto Press, Toronto

    Google Scholar 

  • Roxburgh SH, Shea K, Wilson JB (2004) The intermediate disturbance hypothesis, patch dynamics and mechanisms of species coexistence. Ecology 85:359–371

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanderson EW, Redford KH, Weber B et al (2008) The ecological future of the North American Bison: conceiving long-term, large-scale conservation of wildlife. Conserv Biol 22:252–266

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sankey JB, Germino MJ, Glenn NF (2009) Aeolian sediment transport following wildfire in sagebrush steppe. J Arid Environ 73:912–919

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saskatchewan Government (2007) The Great Sand Hills regional environmental study: final report

  • Schoenecker K, Lubow B, Zeigenfuss L, Mao J (2006) 2005 Annual progress report: Elk and Bison grazing ecology in the great sand Dunes complex of lands: Fort Collins, Colorado, Geological survey open-file report 2006–1267

  • Seton ET (1929) Lives of game animals. Vol. III, Part II. Doubleday, Doran & Co, New York

  • Shaw JH (1995) How many bison originally populated western rangelands? Rangelands 17:148–150

    Google Scholar 

  • Shay JM, Herring M, Dyck BS (2000) Dune colonization in the Bald Head Hills, southwestern Manitoba. Can Field Nat 114:612–627

    Google Scholar 

  • Sieg CH, Flather CH, McCanny S (1999) Recent biodiversity patterns in the great plains: implications for restoration and management. Gt Plains Res 9:277–313

    Google Scholar 

  • Society for Range Management (2003) Biodiversity of rangelands. Rangelands 25:60–65

    Google Scholar 

  • Soper JD (1941) History, range, and home life of the Northern Bison. Ecol Monogr 11:348–412

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sousa WP (1984) The role of disturbance in natural communities. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 15:353–391

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stephenson RO, Gerlach SC, Guthrie RD et al (2001) Wood bison in late Holocene Alaska and adjacent Canada: paleontological, archaeological and historical records. In: Gerlach SC, Murray MS (eds) People and Wildlife in Northern North America: essays in Honour of R. Dale Guthrie. BAR International series 944. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford, pp 124–158

  • Steuter AA, Steinauer EM, Hill GL et al (1995) Distribution and diet of bison and pocket gophers in a sandhills prairie. Ecol Appl 5:756–766

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stout JE, Zobeck TM (1998) Earth, wind, and fire: aeolian activity in a burned rangeland. Proceedings of dust aerosols, loess soils, and global change: an interdisciplinary conference, Washington State University, Pullman, pp 85–88

  • Thorpe J, Wolfe SA, Campbell J et al (2001) An ecoregion approach for evaluating land use management and climate change adaptation strategies on sand dune areas in the prairie provinces. Saskatchewan Research Council Publication No. 11368–1E01

  • Towne GE, Hartnett DC, Cochran RC (2005) Vegetation trends in tallgrass prairie from bison and cattle grazing. Ecol Appl 15:1150–1159

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trager MD, Wilson GWT, Hartnett DC (2004) Concurrent effects of fire regime, grazing, ad bison wallowing on tallgrass prairie vegetation. Am Midl Nat 152:237–247

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Umbanhowar CE (1996) Recent fire history of the northern Great Plains. Am Midl Nat 135:115–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Vuren D, Bray MP (1983) Diets of bison and cattle on a seeded range in southern Utah. J Range Manag 36:499–500

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wallis C (1988) Rare wildlife and plant conservation studies in sandhill and sand plain habitats of southern Alberta. Report to Alberta forestry, lands and wildlife, Edmonton

  • Wallis C, Wershler C (1988) Rare wildlife and plant conservation studies in Sandhill and sand plain habitats of Southern Alberta. Publication No. T-176. Prepared by cottonwood consultants for: Alberta forestry, lands and wildlife/Alberta recreation and parks/World wildlife fund Canada

  • Whicker JJ, Pinder JE, Breshears DD (2006) Increased wind erosion from forest wildfire: implications for contaminant-related risks. J Environ Qual 35:468–478

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wolfe SA, Hugenholtz CH (2009) Barchan dunes stabilized under recent climate warming on the northern Great Plains. Geology 37:1039–1042

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolfe SA, Nickling WG (1997) Sensitivity of eolian processes to climate change in Canada. Geol Surv Canada Bull 421:30

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolfe SA, Thorpe J (2005) Shifting sands: climate change impacts on sand hills in the Canadian prairies and implications for land use management. Prairie Forum 30:123–142

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolfe SA, Muhs DR, David PP, McGeehin JP (2000) Chronology and geochemistry of late Holocene eolian deposits in the Brandon Sand Hills, Manitoba, Canada. Quat Int 67:61–74

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolfe SA, Huntley DJ, David PP et al (2001) Late 18th century drought-induced sand dune activity, Great Sand Hills, Saskatchewan. Can J Earth Sci 38:105–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolfe SA, Ollerhead J, Lian OB (2002) Holocene aeolian activity in south-central Saskatchewan and the southern prairies, Canada. Geogr Phys Quatern 56:215–227

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolfe SA, Huntley D, Ollerhead J (2004) Relict Late Wisconsinan dune fields of the northern Great Plains, Canada. Geogr Phys Quatern 58:323–336

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolfe SA, Ollerhead J, Huntley D, Lian OB (2006) Holocene dune activity and environmental change in the prairie parkland and boreal forest, central Saskatchewan, Canada. Holocene 16:17–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolfe SA, Hugenholtz CH, Evans CP et al (2007) Potential aboriginal-occupation-induced dune activity, Elbow Sand Hills, northern Great Plains, Canada. Gt Plains Res 17:173–192

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright HA, Bailey AW (1982) Fire ecology: United States and southern Canada. Wiley-InterScience Publication, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Youell AJ (2005) Pronghorn procurement on the Northern Plains: a case for small-scale hunting. Dissertation, University of Saskatchewan

Download references

Acknowledgments

Some of the research highlighted in this article was funded by the University of Lethbridge, a NSERC Discovery Grant, and an Alberta Innovates award to CHH. The authors also acknowledge financial support from NSERC in the form of an Undergraduate Student Research Award to TAF. The quality of this manuscript was improved by comments and suggestions from two anonymous reviewers.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chris H. Hugenholtz.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fox, T.A., Hugenholtz, C.H., Bender, D. et al. Can bison play a role in conserving habitat for endangered sandhills species in Canada?. Biodivers Conserv 21, 1441–1455 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-012-0255-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-012-0255-9

Keywords

Navigation