PREHISTORIC PLAY
22 May 2018
Welcome to Pleistocene Park! Siberian parklands are being used to rehome bison, reindeer and horses in order to restore the ecosystem of an ancient ice age and help to reduce the effects of climate change.
Jurassic Park may rest firmly within the realms of science fiction but father-and-son team Sergey and Nikita Zimov want to bring back a lost Ice Age ecosystem. Pleistocene Park aims to restore the biodiversity of Siberia by reintroducing species that have long died out in this area, such as bison, musk ox, and even woolly mammoths. As an added benefit, the park will also counteract the effects of climate change.
Sergey Zimov began grazing Yakutian horses in 1988 and the project has grown from there. Pleistocene Park began in earnest in 1996, aiming to increase the density of animals in Siberia to levels that haven’t been seen in 10,000 years. This region used to be known as the ‘mammoth steppe’, home to a diverse range of species, including woolly mammoths, bison, horses, reindeer and musk ox.
Although the Pleistocene era, which ended around 12,000 years ago, is known as the Ice Age, large sections of Earth were covered in grass. These animals shared a symbiotic relationship with the fast-growing grasses of this ancient ecosystem, which once spread across Europe, Russia, northern Asia and Canada.
"Before that most plants on the planet preferred to protect themselves from eating," said Nikita Zimov, director of Pleistocene Park. "Most resources they spent on poisons, spikes, height etc. Grasses took a different strategy – they put all efforts into fast growth, without spending anything on protection from eating or fighting the enemy. They went to symbiosis with animals. They feed animals, and those animals destroyed the enemies of grass – mosses, shrubs, trees. Those ecosystems appeared to be so successful that 15 to 20 thousand years ago most of the planet was occupied by those ecosystems."
12,000 years ago, the mammoth steppe disappeared thanks to human activity and climate change. As Earth naturally grew warmer, humans spread further north and hunted the animals they found along the way. The symbiotic relationship crumbled and the mammoth steppe disappeared. In a strange twist, it’s human activity that’s bringing back this ecosystem to counteract climate change.
Siberia’s permafrost currently holds hundreds of gigatonnes of carbon dioxide. As the planet warms and the snow thaws, this will be released into the atmosphere. Hard hooved animals may offset this by trampling and compacting the snow, which keeps the permafrost at a cooler temperature. They will also encourage the growth of fast-growing grasses, which store carbon in their roots, by reducing shrubs, trees and moss.
Less vegetation and more snow cover mean the mammoth steppe will reflect the sunlight instead of absorbing its heat, which is referred to as the Albedo effect. Pleistocene Park is only 20 sq km, so it won’t solve climate change on its own but will provide proof that the concept works. Right now, the Zimovs are focused on expanding the park and increasing the number and range of species that live there.