Geographical and ecological setting
Pleistocene Park resides in the north east of Yakutia, Siberia, a region of over three million square kilometers. Yakutia has three large zones: western, eastern, and southern (Troeva et al, 2010). The park is in the eastern zone which is represented by the East-Siberian mountains and North-eastern lowlands (Troeva et al., 2010). Much of the eastern landscape comprises mountains and folds of the Verkhoyansk and Chersky ranges. However the north-eastern Yakutia landscape is primarily made up of the Yana-Indigirka and Kolyma lowlands (Troeva et al., 2010).
Pleistocene Park is an enclosed area of 160 square kilometers of “forest, meadows, shrub land and lakes,” and is located 5 kilometers from Chersky (Pleistocene Park, n.d.; Wolf, 2008). Yakutia is hydrologically isolated, meaning that nearly all of its precipitation comes from evaporation from the land, and it is arguably the coldest place on earth, with temperatures reaching lows of -67oC (Wolf, 2008). As a result, the ground is mostly frozen as permafrost.
Pleistocene Park is located within the Kolyma Lowlands or the Kolyma Floristic Region (Troeva et al., 2010). The Kolyma river, which runs the length of Pleistocene Park, feeds the region’s floodplains and thermokarst lakes. Sixty percent of the site is located within a flood plain, currently dominated by willow shrub land and bunch grasses near the lower Kolyma River (Pleistocene Park, Park, n.d.). While the shrub land is dominated by vegetation such as polar willow (Salix polaris), snow willow (Salix reticulate), leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata), and arctic dwarf birch (Betula exilis), the floodplain is predominantly grass and moss species such as reed grasses (Calamagrostis sp.), sedge (eg. Carex appendiculata), common cottongrass (Eriophorum angustifolium), and Sphagnum mosses (Corradi et al, 2005; Pleistocene Park, Park, n.d.).
The remaining 40% of the site is situated on the Yedoma hills and mostly dominated by larch forest, primarily Dahurian larch (Larix gmelinii) with lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) ground cover, and drained lake grasslands, with species such as couch grass (Elytrigia repens), sedge (eg. Carex orthostachys), and mannagrass (Glyceria lithuanica) (Takakai, 2006; Pleistocene Park, Park, n.d.).
The large species richness of the Kolyma Floristic Region highlights the floristic diversity of northeastern Siberia. The flora of the Kolyma Floristic Region amounts to 685 species and subspecies of higher vascular plants spanning 73 families (Troeva et al., 2010). Three of the families, rushes (family Juncaceae), grasses (family Poaceae), and sedges (family Cyperaceae), are primarily plant families grazed by herbivores. Their high productivity combined with high nutrition make them ideal for grazing (Allaby, 2010; Glimn-Lacy & Kaufman, 2006; Balsev, 1996). Poaceae and Cyperaceae grasses are grazed; rushes are used by grazers to indicate water sources. These three families are able to coexist with low competition because they inhabit individual niches and have varied dispersal methods. Small populations of these species are present in Pleistocene Park today, which allow a variety of herbivores to graze effectively despite the predominantly wetland/floodplain ecosystem.
In the Pleistocene epoch, the productivity of the region was much greater. The fossil record shows that the region was dominated by a semi-arid grass steppe and populated by well-developed grazing megaherbivores (Zimov et al. 1995). Approximately 10,000-12,000 years before present, the ecosystem transitioned from a steppe grassland to a tundra/forest/swamp (Zimov et al. 1995). The grazing activity by megaherbivores, as Zimov (1995) asserts, was essential to the maintenance of the productive grass-steppe vegetation as the disturbance, mowing and fertilization provided by these ungulates stimulated the growth of grasses and sedges.
Pleistocene Park is an enclosed area of 160 square kilometers of “forest, meadows, shrub land and lakes,” and is located 5 kilometers from Chersky (Pleistocene Park, n.d.; Wolf, 2008). Yakutia is hydrologically isolated, meaning that nearly all of its precipitation comes from evaporation from the land, and it is arguably the coldest place on earth, with temperatures reaching lows of -67oC (Wolf, 2008). As a result, the ground is mostly frozen as permafrost.
Pleistocene Park is located within the Kolyma Lowlands or the Kolyma Floristic Region (Troeva et al., 2010). The Kolyma river, which runs the length of Pleistocene Park, feeds the region’s floodplains and thermokarst lakes. Sixty percent of the site is located within a flood plain, currently dominated by willow shrub land and bunch grasses near the lower Kolyma River (Pleistocene Park, Park, n.d.). While the shrub land is dominated by vegetation such as polar willow (Salix polaris), snow willow (Salix reticulate), leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata), and arctic dwarf birch (Betula exilis), the floodplain is predominantly grass and moss species such as reed grasses (Calamagrostis sp.), sedge (eg. Carex appendiculata), common cottongrass (Eriophorum angustifolium), and Sphagnum mosses (Corradi et al, 2005; Pleistocene Park, Park, n.d.).
The remaining 40% of the site is situated on the Yedoma hills and mostly dominated by larch forest, primarily Dahurian larch (Larix gmelinii) with lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) ground cover, and drained lake grasslands, with species such as couch grass (Elytrigia repens), sedge (eg. Carex orthostachys), and mannagrass (Glyceria lithuanica) (Takakai, 2006; Pleistocene Park, Park, n.d.).
The large species richness of the Kolyma Floristic Region highlights the floristic diversity of northeastern Siberia. The flora of the Kolyma Floristic Region amounts to 685 species and subspecies of higher vascular plants spanning 73 families (Troeva et al., 2010). Three of the families, rushes (family Juncaceae), grasses (family Poaceae), and sedges (family Cyperaceae), are primarily plant families grazed by herbivores. Their high productivity combined with high nutrition make them ideal for grazing (Allaby, 2010; Glimn-Lacy & Kaufman, 2006; Balsev, 1996). Poaceae and Cyperaceae grasses are grazed; rushes are used by grazers to indicate water sources. These three families are able to coexist with low competition because they inhabit individual niches and have varied dispersal methods. Small populations of these species are present in Pleistocene Park today, which allow a variety of herbivores to graze effectively despite the predominantly wetland/floodplain ecosystem.
In the Pleistocene epoch, the productivity of the region was much greater. The fossil record shows that the region was dominated by a semi-arid grass steppe and populated by well-developed grazing megaherbivores (Zimov et al. 1995). Approximately 10,000-12,000 years before present, the ecosystem transitioned from a steppe grassland to a tundra/forest/swamp (Zimov et al. 1995). The grazing activity by megaherbivores, as Zimov (1995) asserts, was essential to the maintenance of the productive grass-steppe vegetation as the disturbance, mowing and fertilization provided by these ungulates stimulated the growth of grasses and sedges.