The Mammoth Tundra-Steppe Ecosystem

Numerous papers have been written about Sergey Zimov and his elaborate project, including one by Zimov himself published in 2005 in Science: Pleistocene Park: Return of the Mammoth’s Ecosystem. In it, Zimov refers to the steppes of Siberia in the Pleistocene as the “mammoth tundra-steppe”. Towards the end of the Pleistocene epoch, the dry, arid steppes were replaced by mossy tundra and forest tundra. The only surviving herbivores were moose which fed on willows, and reindeer which fed on lichens. The woolly mammoths and their giant companions could not survive the warming of the Holocene, despite enduring the coldest of the ice age.

Mammoth Steppe Plants

The Long-Lived Mammoth Steppe

According to Wikipedia

(The mammoth steppe) ecosystem covered wide areas of the northern part of the globe, thrived for approximately 100,000 years without major changes, and then suddenly became extinct about 12,000 years ago.

In the Pleistocene Park Series:

This is based on a piece of creative nonfiction I wrote 9 years ago. I'm sort of testing ideas for children's books, so if you have any input on my writing or formatting, please let me know.

Image Credits:

1. Ubsunur Hollow Biosphere Reserve, on the border of Russia and Mongolia, is one of the last remnants of Mammoth Steppe. Wikipedia
2. Plants of the Pleistocene: Wikipedia