NPS Photo
Bison in the middle of study plots
Wildlife species that affect seeded areas include deer, elk, bison, and rabbits. The bison are particularly troublesome because they not only eat the vegetation, but their footprints and wallows wipe out many seedlings. Browse use on shrub species in fall/winter of 2005 was moderate to heavy, particularly on prairie rose (
Rosa arkansana). The local rabbits in the plot area were so used to people that they contentedly grazed on the vegetation under the benches we used while collecting data.