User:Elijah Whalen/Great bison belt

Role of the bison
The bison is the largest land animal in North America. It can weigh up to a ton, and once inhabited the entire length of the great bison belt. English colonists saw bison for the first time by the Potomac River.

At their peak, between thirty and forty million bison roamed the bison belt. Bison are excellent thermo-regulators, and successfully endured the harshest environmental conditions. The protein to carbohydrate ratio in the short grass provided an ideal diet for large numbers of bison. Humans had largely destroyed the megafauna of North America, eliminating the resource competition of bison. The droppings and grazing of the bison supported healthy grass maintenance, and prevented the intrusion of taller grasses. Additionally, fires which broke out in the grasslands would cause bison populations to rise. This is due to the regrowth of a recently-burned area being rich in nutrients. The bison belt supported numerous species and complex ecosystems. For instance, the bison were so plentiful that by the early 19th century, it is estimated that about 1.5 million wolves lived on the bison belt, feeding largely on the bison.

Human Changes
For thousands of years, humans had altered the landscape and ecosystems of the great bison belt. They removed trees, introduced new plants, hunted animals, planted crops, and initiated controlled burns.

Pre-Contact Effects
The most consequential way by which the Indigenous peoples of North America affected the ecology of the great bison belt was by expanding it through fire. By initiating controlled burns at regular intervals, Native Americans were able to expand shortgrass plains into formerly forested areas, and prevent regrowth of brush to maintain them. Some European settlers documented such traditions as occurring annually, implying that they existed before European contact. One such writer, R. W. Wells, described the practice in detail. "To remedy these and many other inconveniences, even the woods were originally burned so as to cause prairies, and for the same and like reasons they continue to be burned towards the close of the Indian summer.

Woodland is not commonly changed to prairie by one burning, but by several successive conflagrations; the first will kill the undergrowth, which causing a greater opening, and admitting the sun and air more freely, increases the quantity of grass the ensuing season: the conflagration consequently increases, and is not sufficiently powerful to destroy the smaller timber; and on the third year, you behold an open prairie.

Ordinarily, all the country, of a nature to become prairie, is already that state; yet the writer of this has seen, in the country between the Mississippi and Missouri, after unusual dry seasons, more than one hundred acres of woodland together converted into prairie." Additionally, Native Americans also used fire for the hunting of bison. By initiating burns to cause regrowth which is rich in nutrients, they could artificially create ideal conditions for bison to graze in. Using this to lure bison to driveline complexes and jumps allowed for greater success when hunting bison. They also used fire in a more active way. By setting fires in a path, they were able to drive ruminants (such as bison and deer) towards hunters, allowing for easier kills.

Euro-Colonial Effects
Since the arrival of European settlers, many more significant human changes have taken place. The introduction of livestock from Europe completely altered the natural environment. Brought by the Spanish in the 1500s, horses were spread across the plains through complex trade networks. The horses were suited for the environment of the bison belt, and quickly proliferated. Plains Natives eagerly adopted them, using them to pursue the bison herds across the bison belt year-round. Some societies were radically altered, as they fully adopted a semi-nomadic lifestyle. By the early 19th century, about 60,000 Plains Natives owned between 300,000 and 900,000 horses. This was in addition to over two million wild horses. The horses put pressure on the bison in two ways. First, they competed with the bison for grazing, reducing the carrying capacity of the bison belt. Second, they enabled the Plains Natives to kill bison at a much greater rate than prior to the adoption of horses. In more modern times, some groups continue to initiate controlled burns, so as to maintain healthy grassland.