The worst part is that aspen are an ice age relect species, unable to reproduce by seed under present conditions. Therefore, aspen in Yellowstone reproduce via runners. What seems like a mountainside of aspen is actually ONE huge tree, all linked by underground runners.
If ParcMan’s bureau-scientists allowed the elk to eat to destruction all aspen in an area, no seeds will blow in.
Unfortunately, ParcMan so did.
When will the aspen return?
Probably, when the next ice age arrives.
If elk are a problem, shoot them.
The deer in our suburban area are like pets. They hide out during the day in people’s backyards. ( literally). Then at night they go out an try to kill motorists. It’s like a Steven King novel.
Thanks for the info. I got the impression that there were a few areas where the aspen survived and are now regrowing since the wolves are discouraging the elk from eating them.
In a totally separate vein, I have encountered stories about the spread of a “mad cow” type of illness in elk in the northern middle west, and perhaps moving eastward. I remember the movie about the scientist who lived with wolves in the arctic and discovered that they ate a lot of small rodents, and when they killed caribou, it was generally ones that were sick with something. Perhaps the wolves are needed to reduce the population of sick elk, before we eat them and get a fatal brain illness.