Greater Yellowstone is the last large, nearly intact ecosystem in the northern temperate zone of the Earth and is partly located in Yellowstone National Park. Conflict over management has been controversial, and the area is a flagship site among conservation groups that aggressively promote ecosystem management. The Greater Yellow Ecosystem (GYE) is one of the world's foremost natural laboratories in landscape ecology and geology and is a world-renowned recreational site. It is also home to the animals of Yellowstone. In ecology, an ecosystem is a community of organisms (plant, animal and other living organisms - also referred as biocenose) together with their environment (or biotope), functioning as a unit. ... In geography, temperate latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. ... Earth, also known as the Earth or Terra, is the third planet outward from the Sun. ... Yellowstone National Park is a U.S. National Park located in the states of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. ... Yellowstone National Park is the home of many different animals that also migrate within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. ...

Bison grazing near Gibbon River at Madison in Yellowstone National Park

Photo taken by Daniel Mayer and released under terms of the GNU FDL. File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Photo taken by Daniel Mayer and released under terms of the GNU FDL. File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

History

Yellowstone National Park boundaries were arbitrarily drawn in 1872 in hopes of including all regional geothermal basins in the area. No other landscape considerations were incorporated. By the 1970s, however, the grizzly bear's (Ursus arctos) range in and near the park became the first informal minimum boundary of a theoretical Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem that included at least 16,000 km² (4,000,000 acres). Since then, definitions of the greater ecosystem's size have steadily grown larger. A 1994 study listed the size as 76,890 km² (19,000,000 acres), while a 1994 speech by a Greater Yellowstone Coalition leader enlarged that to 80,000 km² (20,000,000 acres). 1872 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The geothermal areas of Yellowstone include several geyser basins in Yellowstone National Park as well as other geothermal features such as hot springs (including mud pots) and fumaroles. ... Binomial name Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1758 The Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) is a species of bear that can reach weights of 130-700 kg (300 to 1500 pounds). ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ...

In 1985 the United States House of Representatives Subcommittees on Public Lands and National Parks and Recreation held a joint subcommittee hearing on Greater Yellowstone, resulting in a 1986 report by the Congressional Research Service outlining shortcomings in interagency coordination and concluding that the area's essential values were at risk. 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The House of Representatives is the larger of two houses that make up the U.S. Congress, the other being the United States Senate. ... 1986 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Congressional Research Service is the public policy research arm of the United States Congress. ...

Ecosystem Management by Species

The great ecosystem concept has been most often advanced through concerns over individual species rather than over broader ecological principles. Though 20 or 30 or even 50 years of information on a population may be considered long-term by some, one of the important lessons of Greater Yellowstone management is that even half a century is not long enough to give a full idea of how a species may vary in its occupation of a wild ecosystem. this page sucks! For example, anecdotal information on grizzly bear abundance dates to the mid-1800s, and administrators have made informal population estimates for more than 70 years. From these sources, ecologists know the species was common in Greater Yellowstone when Europeans arrived and that the population was not isolated before the 1930s, but is now. Researchers do not know if bears were more or less common than now. In biology, a species is a kind of organism. ... Events and Trends Beginning of the Napoleonic Wars (1803 - 1815). ... World map showing location of Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... Events and trends Technology Jet engine invented Science Nuclear fission discovered by Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner and Fritz Strassmann Pluto, the ninth planet from the Sun, is discovered by Clyde Tombaugh British biologist Arthur Tansley coins term ecosystem War, peace and politics Socialists proclaim The death of Capitalism Rise to...

A 1959-1970 bear study suggested a grizzly bear population size of about 175, later revised to about 229.[1]  (http://biology.usgs.gov/s+t/noframe/r114.htm#23489) Later estimates have ranged as low as 136 and as high as 540; the most recent is a minimum estimate of 236.[2]  (http://biology.usgs.gov/s+t/noframe/r114.htm#23525) Although the Greater Yellowstone population is relatively close to recovery goals, the plan's definition of recovery is controversial. Thus, even though the population may be stable or possibly increasing in the short term, in the longer term, continued habitat loss and increasing human activities may well reverse the trend. 1959 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1970 was a common year starting on Thursday. ... For other meanings, see Bear (disambiguation). ... A habitat (from the Latin for it inhabits) is the place where a particular organism usually lives or grows. ... Binomial name Homo sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 Subspecies Homo sapiens idaltu (extinct) Homo sapiens sapiens Human beings define themselves in biological, social, and spiritual terms. ...

Yellowstone cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki bouvieri) have suffered considerable declines since European settlement, but recently began flourishing in some areas. Especially in Yellowstone Lake itself, long-term records indicate an almost remarkable restoration of robust populations from only three decades ago when the numbers of this fish were depleted because of excessive harvest. Its current recovery, though a significant management achievement, does not begin to restore the species' historical abundance. Yellowstone Lake is the largest body of water in the south of the Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, United States. ... Atlantic herring, Clupea harengus, the most abundant fish species in the world. ...

Early accounts of pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) in Greater Yellowstone described herds of hundreds seen ranging through most major river valleys. These populations were decimated by 1900, and declines continued among remaining herds. On the park's northern range, pronghorn declined from 500-700 in the 1930s to about 122 in 1968. By 1992 the herd had increased to 536. Binomial name Antilocapra americana Ord, 1815 The pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) is the only surviving member of the family Antilocapridae, and the fastest land animal in North America running at speeds up to 54 mph (90 km/h). ... Categories: Animal stubs | Animal behaviour | Social psychology ... 1900 is a common year starting on Monday. ... 1992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Current (top) and projected (bottom) distribution of whitebark pine.

Among plants, whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) is a species of special interest, in large part because of its seasonal importance to grizzly bears, but also because its distribution could be dramatically reduced by relatively minor global warming. In this case, researchers do not have a good long-term data set on the species, but they understand its ecology well enough to project declining future conservation status. A more immediate, and serious, threat to whitebark pine is an introduced fungal disease, white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola), which is causing heavy mortality in the species. Occasional resistant individuals occur, but in the short to medium term, a severe population decline is expected. Download high resolution version (432x1000, 33 KB)Top: Current distribution of whitebark pine portrayed by a computerized geographic information system (GIS). ... Download high resolution version (432x1000, 33 KB)Top: Current distribution of whitebark pine portrayed by a computerized geographic information system (GIS). ... Divisions Green algae land plants (embryophytes) non-vascular embryophytes Hepatophyta - liverworts Anthocerophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses vascular plants (tracheophytes) seedless vascular plants Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongue ferns seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering... Binomial name Pinus albicaulis Engelm. ... Global mean surface temperatures 1856-2004 Global warming is a term used to describe an increase over time of the average temperature of Earths atmosphere and oceans. ... The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive. ... This article is about the fungus. ...

Estimates of the decline of quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) on the park's northern range since 1872 range from 50% to 95%, and perhaps no controversy underway in Greater Yellowstone more clearly reveals the need for comprehensive interdisciplinary research. Several factors are suspected in the aspen's changing status, including Native American influences on numerous mammal species and on fire-return intervals before the creation of the park in 1872; European influences on fire frequency since 1886; regional climate warming; human harvests of beaver and ungulates in the first 15 years of the park's history and of wolves and other predators before 1930; human settlement of traditional ungulate migration routes north of the park since 1872; ungulate (especially elk) effects on all other parts of the ecosystem since 1900; and human influences on elk distribution in the park. 1872 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Species See text Aspens are trees of the willow family and comprise a section of the poplar genus Populus sect. ... Native Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, Amerindians, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ... Orders Subclass Monotremata Monotremata Subclass Marsupialia Didelphimorphia Paucituberculata Microbiotheria Dasyuromorphia Peramelemorphia Notoryctemorphia Diprotodontia Subclass Placentalia Xenarthra Dermoptera Desmostylia Scandentia Primates Rodentia Lagomorpha Insectivora Chiroptera Pholidota Carnivora Perissodactyla Artiodactyla Cetacea Afrosoricida Macroscelidea Tubulidentata Hyracoidea Proboscidea Sirenia The mammals are the class of vertebrate animals primarily characterized by the presence of mammary... FIRE can stand for Foundation for Individual Rights in Education Fully Integrated Robotised Engine, an engine from Fiat. ... 1886 is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) Events January 18 _ Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ... Map of the climate of the Earth The climate (ancient Greek: κλίμα) is the weather averaged over a long period of time. ... Binomial name Castor canadensis Kuhl, 1820 The American Beaver (Castor canadensis) is a large semi-aquatic rodent native to Canada, most of the United States and parts of northern Mexico. ... Ungulates (meaning roughly hoofed or hoofed animal) make up several orders of mammals, of which six survive: Artiodactyla: even-toed ungulates, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, antelope, and many others Cetacea: whales and dolphins (which evolved from hoofed land animals) Perissodactyla: odd-toed ungulates such as horses and rhinos Proboscidea: elephants... Binomial name Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758 The Wolf or Grey Wolf (Canis lupus) is a mammal of the Canidae family and the ancestor of the domestic dog. ... This snapping turtle is trying to make a meal of a Canada goose, but the goose is too wary. ... 1930 is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... The word Elk has several possible meanings: In Europe, Elk is the animal known in North America as the Moose (Alces alces). ... 1900 is a common year starting on Monday. ...

The Yellowstone hot springs are important for their diversity of thermophilic bacteria. These bacteria have been useful in studies of the evolution of photosynthesis and as sources of thermostable enzymes for molecular biology. Although the smell of sulfur is common and there are some sulfur fixing cyanobacteria, it has been found that hydrogen is being used as an energy source by extremophile microbes. Thermophiles produce some of the bright colors of Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park A thermophile is an organism – a type of extremophile – which thrives at relatively high temperatures, up to about 60 °C. Many thermophiles are archaea. ... Leaf. ... Neuraminidase ribbon diagram An enzyme (in Greek en = in and zyme = leaven) is a protein, or protein complex, that catalyzes a chemical reaction and also controls the 3D orientation of the catalyzed substrates. ... Molecular biology is the study of biology at a molecular level. ... General Name, Symbol, Number sulfur, S, 16 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 16 (VIA), 3, p Density, Hardness 1960 kg/m3, 2 Appearance Lemon yellow at STP Atomic properties Atomic weight 32. ... General Name, Symbol, Number sulfur, S, 16 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 16 (VIA), 3, p Density, Hardness 1960 kg/m3, 2 Appearance Lemon yellow at STP Atomic properties Atomic weight 32. ... Cyanobacteria (Greek: cyanos = blue) are a phylum of aquatic bacteria that obtain their energy through photosynthesis. ... General Name, Symbol, Number Hydrogen, H, 1 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 1 (IA), 1 , s Density, Hardness 0. ... An extremophile is an organism, usually unicellular, which thrives in or requires extreme conditions. ... A microorganism or microbe is an organism that is so small that it is microscopic (invisible to the naked eye). ...

Reference

• Initial article based on public domain content from the National Park Service written by Paul Schullery.[3] (http://biology.usgs.gov/s+t/noframe/r114.htm)

The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The National Park Service (NPS) is the United States Federal Government agency that deals with all National Parks, many National Monuments, and other conservation properties with various designations. ...

External links

• USGS Rocky Mountain Mapping Center - Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (http://rockyweb.cr.usgs.gov/html/gye/)
• Greater Yellowstone Coalition - The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (http://www.greateryellowstone.org/gyc/home_gye.html)
• The Trust for Public Land - Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Program (http://www.tpl.org/tier3_cd.cfm?content_item_id=5263&folder_id=678)