VIEWPOINT - UNGULATE HERBIVORY, WILLOWS, AND POLITICAL ECOLOGY IN YELLOWSTONE

Contentions that willows (Salix spp,) on Yellowstone National Park's n orthern range have declined because of climatic change, fire suppressi on, reduced chemical defenses, or other natural factors are not suppor ted by available data, Instead, willows have declined due to repeated browsing by an unnaturally large elk population. By established standa rds Yellowstone contains some of the worst overgrazed willow communiti es in the entire West, but that was not true in earlier times, Prior t o park establishment, predation by Native Americans kept elk and other ungulate numbers low which, in turn, prevented herbivores from impact ing Yellowstone's plant communities, as those animals do today, Finall y, the condition of willows in the park is also a test of Yellowstone' s ''natural regulation'' program, and that paradigm must also be rejec ted.