© Copyright by the Center for Great Plains Studies MANAGING BISON TO RESTORE BIODIVERSITY

ABSTRACT-Prior to their demise in the late 1800s, bison coex-isted with and helped sustain a diverse and spectacular assemblage of animals and plant communities on the Great Plains. Bison, in concert with fire, exerted strong control on the structure of the vegetation by grazing, trampling, and wallowing. The changes in the vegetation in-duced changes in many animal populations. These impacts, coupled with the bison's role as the major converter of grass to meat, so greatly affected other species that some have called bison a "keystone " species in the Great Plains ecosystem. The black-tailed prairie dog, dependent on bison grazing over a large part of the Great Plains, amplified the keystone influence of bison by its own grazing and burrowing activities and its utility as prey. Although modern bison-growing practices usually will preclude restoration of the large predators and scavengers that once wer