Siberian Mammoth Steppe Relict Food Web
Terrestrial
Tundra
Northeastern Siberia, Russia — Pleistocene Park, Chersky
Description
Pleistocene Park in Siberia is an experimental rewilding project attempting to restore the mammoth steppe food web that dominated northern Eurasia until 10,000 years ago. Bison, muskoxen, and horses have been reintroduced to recreate grazing pressure that maintains grassland over shrubland. The project tests whether herbivore reintroduction can slow permafrost thaw.
Trophic Pyramid
Level 5
Decomposers
Permafrost bacteria
Dung beetles
Soil fungi
3 species
Level 4
Tertiary Consumers
Gray wolf
Brown bear
2 species
Level 3
Secondary Consumers
Red fox
Saker falcon
Wolverine
3 species
Level 2
Primary Consumers
Reintroduced bison
Yakutian horse
Muskox
3 species
Level 1
Producers
Steppe grasses
Sedges
Mosses
3 species
Apex Predators
Tertiary Consumers
Secondary Consumers
Primary Consumers
Producers
Key Interactions
- Large herbivore trampling compacts snow, allowing deeper winter soil freezing that slows permafrost thaw
- Grazing converts low-albedo shrubland to high-albedo grassland, cooling the surface
- Yakutian horses evolved cold tolerance for surviving Siberian winters at -60C
- Wolf predation pressure keeps herbivore herds moving, preventing overgrazing