Study: Bison fight climate change

A single herd of bison — 170 head strong — stores enough carbon to offset 43,000 U.S. cars according to a new study.

What’s the science behind that, you ask? Dr. Oswald Schmitz of the Yale School of the Environment told The Guardian about his study, which focused on European bison in Romania.

“Bison influence grassland and forest ecosystems by grazing grasslands evenly, recycling nutrients to fertilize the soil and all of its life, dispersing seeds to enrich the ecosystem, and compacting the soil to prevent stored carbon from being released,” said Schmitz. “Restoring these ecosystems can bring back balance.”

In other words, bison keep habitats and ecosystems healthy and vibrant, and healthy ecosystems store carbon.

There’s a growing understanding that sea kelp and trees, especially older, bigger trees, can fight against climate change. This new report shows that wildlife, in this case bison, are a big part of this picture.

Of course, the other reason to care about all this is simply that bison are awesome, beautiful creatures, and efforts to build up bison populations in the U.S. are underway. This would restore ecosystems in the American plains and yield climate benefits.

Nature is connected in so many ways.