Woolly Mammoth de-extinction project underway in Dallas
Woolly Mammoth de-extinction project underway in Dallas
In a historic building in Deep Ellum, a colossal effort is underway to bring some of the most famously extinct animals back to life.
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"But there's an even bigger driving force.
James says restoring a mammoth ecosystem can preserve permafrost, or ground that remains frozen, and slow the release of greenhouse gases."
I'm confused, how exactly would wooly mammoths help preserve permafrost?
tl;dr Grazers at glacial limits sequestrate carbon via trampling.
This is where our shaggy friends may come in. Mammoths and other large herbivores of the Pleistocene continually trampled mosses and shrubs, uprooting trees and disturbing the landscape. In this way, they inadvertently acted as natural geo-engineers, maintaining highly productive steppe landscapes full of grasses, herbs and no trees.
Bringing mammoth-like creatures back to the tundra could, in theory, help recreate the steppe ecosystem more widely. Because grass absorbs less sunlight than trees, this would cause the ground to absorb less heat and in turn keep the carbon pools and their greenhouse gases on ice for longer. Large numbers of the animals would also trample snow cover, stopping it from acting like insulation for the ground and allowing the permafrost to feel the effects of the bitter Arctic winters. Again, this would, in theory, keep the ground colder for longer.
https://theconversation.com/could-resurrecting-mammoths-help-stop-arctic-emissions-95956