Overview

• Peer‑reviewed research in Science reports that grazed plants along Yellowstone’s bison corridor contain about 150% more protein than ungrazed plants.
• Field experiments from 2015 to 2021, paired with GPS tracking and satellite imagery, linked local grazing patches to landscape‑scale effects on nutrients and vegetation.
• Bison grazing, dung and urine accelerated nitrogen cycling, keeping grasses short, dense and nutrient‑rich without reducing overall productivity.
• Soils maintained nutrient storage and plant biodiversity increased across the migration corridor despite areas that appeared heavily grazed.
• Yellowstone’s roughly 5,000 free‑roaming bison travel about 1,000 miles annually on a 50‑mile route, and the authors estimate their presence yields over three million kilograms of additional crude protein across the landscape.