Bison-Rewilding-Plan-2014
Bison-Rewilding-Plan-2014 Bison-Rewilding-Plan-2014
3.2The reference:historic distribution or suitable habitat?There is some debate concerning the Holocenedistribution of the European bison due to theincomplete reconstruction of its Holocene rangein the western Palaearctic. There is no evidenceyet for either B. bonasus having inhabited WesternEurope into the Iberian Peninsula or southernEurope into the Italian Peninsula. There is alsono direct evidence for its distribution in mostof the Balkan Peninsula, although the fact that itinhabited Eastern Europe and areas further southand east into the Caucasus makes it more likelythat it could have been present in this region.However, bones of European bison are notoriouslydifficult to distinguish from those of Europe’sother large bovid, the aurochs, making it possiblethat remains of European bison could have beenmisidentified as those of aurochs in some regions(Benecke 2005). Aurochs appeared to be morewidely distributed than European bison, with boneevidence found in the Iberian, Italian and Balkanpeninsulas and also further north in Britain (VanVuure 2005). Therefore it may be worth re-examiningthe zooarchaeological record of proposedreintroduction areas that lack past evidence forbison. Although very well preserved and completeremains are needed to morphologically distinguishthe two species, genetic analysis could beused to determine species status.There has also been a vigorous debate in theliterature around whether the European bisonwas a forest-adapted species or whether its forestdistribution represented marginal habitat dueto avoidance of areas of high human activity.Kuemmerle et al. (2011) took a species distributionmodelling approach to reconstruct the past distributionof European bison. Based on known occurrencepoints and associated habitat, they usedcomputer modelling to make predictions aboutother areas of suitable habitat that the speciescould have potentially inhabited and areas where itmight have been extirpated from. They concludedthat bison thrived in broadleaved and coniferousforests and that it might have had a more northerlyand easterly distribution than previously reported.However, Cromsigt et al. (2012) disagreed withtheir interpretation of the results and argued thatforest never constituted optimal bison habitat. Theyquoted recent studies regarding the European bison’sevolutionary background (Shapiro et al. 2004), dentalmorphology (Mendoz and Palmqvist 2008) and dietand microhabitat selection (Kerley et al. 2012) thatall suggested that it is a species of open or half-openhabitats, and that purely forested areas representedmarginal habitat. Given the current absence ofclear evidence for the ancestral niche of B. bonasus,it might be reasonable to assume a wider inter-28
JOZEF FIALApretation of its potential optimal habitat than thecurrent approach, which focuses almost exclusivelyon forest habitat. This discussion must also take intoaccount the on-going scientific debate regarding thestate of the primeval landscape of lowland Europe,and whether this comprised closed canopy forestversus more open park-like landscapes (Vera 1997and Sandom et al. 2014), and the role bison and otherlarge herbivores play in shaping the landscape.Furthermore, there is a danger that conservationmanagers actively confine the bison tosuboptimal habitat (Cromsigt et al. 2012). Optimalhabitat for establishing meta-populations of bisonhas so far focused on mountainous areas of easternand central Europe, in particular the Carpathians.However, this type of mountainous forest habitatcould in fact represent marginal habitat that isonly appropriate for bison due to associated lowhuman densities in these areas and therefore lowpotential for human-wildlife conflict.There is no long-term experience of releasingbison into semi-open habitats in unfenced conditions.Therefore large-scale, potentially experimental(re)introductions in diverse habitats andunder different climate conditions throughout itsnatural range are essential, not only for conservationpurposes but also to gain a better understandingof the ecology of the species. Abandonedopen habitat such as fields, pastures, meadows and(former) military areas may become importantfor European bison in such areas, because theyprovide more and better quality forage than theforest herb layer (Pucek et al. 2004).Whilst we appreciate the scientific basis onwhich current management is based, due to thehigh degree of uncertainty that remains aroundbison management, Rewilding Europe advocatesa hands-on conservation and a ‘learning bydoing’ approach. We will then disseminate lessonslearned from experimental reintroductions backinto the scientific community to inform futurereintroductions and conservation efforts.Guiding principles:• Rewilding Europe will strive to work torestore bison not only in forested regions,but will also consider reintroducingthem into areas of more open forests andsemi-open habitats with abundant grassand herb vegetations.• Rewilding Europe will work to link differentecosystems across eastern and westernEurope, for example the mountainousCarpathians and the surrounding rivervalleys.• Rewilding Europe will interpret theEuropean bison range in relation to itsecological requirements and futureclimate change, rather than solely as itshistorical Holocene distribution.• Rewilding Europe will use and apply theGuidelines for Reintroductions and OtherConservation Translocations (IUNCN 2012)for bison reintroductions and re-stockings.29
- Page 1 and 2: BisonRewilding Plan2014-2024Rewildi
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- Page 6 and 7: Table of contentsForeword 3Executiv
- Page 8 and 9: 6STAFFAN WIDSTRAND / REWILDING EURO
- Page 10 and 11: 1.2European landscapes: the opportu
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- Page 14 and 15: RUUD MAASKANT / ARK NATURE2.2 Ecolo
- Page 16 and 17: winner secludes himself from the he
- Page 18 and 19: een well established (Benecke 1999)
- Page 20 and 21: 2.3Current conservation statusRecen
- Page 22 and 23: 2.4European bison conservation2.4.1
- Page 24: forest ecosystems started in Bialow
- Page 28 and 29: 26STAFFAN WIDSTRAND / REWILDING EUR
- Page 32 and 33: 3.3European bison as a keystoneand
- Page 35 and 36: STAFFAN WIDSTRAND / REWILDING EUROP
- Page 37 and 38: Human-bison conflict3.6Current-day
- Page 39 and 40: JOEP VAN DE VLASAKKERHowever, not a
- Page 41 and 42: in opposition to important resource
- Page 46 and 47: Objective Action Result7. Bison pro
- Page 48 and 49: ReferencesBalčiauskas L. 1999. Eur
- Page 50 and 51: 1. Planning the reintroduction andr
- Page 52 and 53: Electric wires forareas with highsn
- Page 54 and 55: use of young animals two to four ye
- Page 56 and 57: JOEP VAN DE VLASAKKERBison are best
- Page 58 and 59: Use of pulka totransport and loadbi
- Page 60 and 61: de-worming is appropriate. As worme
- Page 62 and 63: 4. Bison released into populationsl
- Page 64 and 65: Attachment: European bison bodycond
- Page 66: European bison body condition index
3.2The reference:historic distribution or suitable habitat?There is some debate concerning the Holocenedistribution of the European bison due to theincomplete reconstruction of its Holocene rangein the western Palaearctic. There is no evidenceyet for either B. bonasus having inhabited WesternEurope into the Iberian Peninsula or southernEurope into the Italian Peninsula. There is alsono direct evidence for its distribution in mostof the Balkan Peninsula, although the fact that itinhabited Eastern Europe and areas further southand east into the Caucasus makes it more likelythat it could have been present in this region.However, bones of European bison are notoriouslydifficult to distinguish from those of Europe’sother large bovid, the aurochs, making it possiblethat remains of European bison could have beenmisidentified as those of aurochs in some regions(Benecke 2005). Aurochs appeared to be morewidely distributed than European bison, with boneevidence found in the Iberian, Italian and Balkanpeninsulas and also further north in Britain (VanVuure 2005). Therefore it may be worth re-examiningthe zooarchaeological record of proposedreintroduction areas that lack past evidence forbison. Although very well preserved and completeremains are needed to morphologically distinguishthe two species, genetic analysis could beused to determine species status.There has also been a vigorous debate in theliterature around whether the European bisonwas a forest-adapted species or whether its forestdistribution represented marginal habitat dueto avoidance of areas of high human activity.Kuemmerle et al. (2011) took a species distributionmodelling approach to reconstruct the past distributionof European bison. Based on known occurrencepoints and associated habitat, they usedcomputer modelling to make predictions aboutother areas of suitable habitat that the speciescould have potentially inhabited and areas where itmight have been extirpated from. They concludedthat bison thrived in broadleaved and coniferousforests and that it might have had a more northerlyand easterly distribution than previously reported.However, Cromsigt et al. (2012) disagreed withtheir interpretation of the results and argued thatforest never constituted optimal bison habitat. Theyquoted recent studies regarding the European bison’sevolutionary background (Shapiro et al. 2004), dentalmorphology (Mendoz and Palmqvist 2008) and dietand microhabitat selection (Kerley et al. 2012) thatall suggested that it is a species of open or half-openhabitats, and that purely forested areas representedmarginal habitat. Given the current absence ofclear evidence for the ancestral niche of B. bonasus,it might be reasonable to assume a wider inter-28
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