Extraordinary biodiversity results from “rewilding” an economically-marginal English farm.
Only recently understood: the key role of large herbivores in creating savannah (rather than continuous forest).

@stewartbrand,@PatchouliW
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5640191/How-letting-Mother-Nature-reclaim-prime-farmland-produced-breathtaking-results.html …
-
Show this thread
-
New England, in living memory, has gone from mainly farm fields to one gigantic dense forest. Is that natural? What were New England’s dominant herbivores? Would reintroducing them, or analogs, create savannah? Might that be economically advantageous, as well as ecologically?
4 replies 1 retweet 8 likesShow this thread -
Replying to @Meaningness
There's a large hunting club in mid-NH with its own re-introduced population of elk and boar, and they still seem to be mostly forested: http://outsideinradio.org/shows/ep27 . It's a little hard to say given that they're maintaining the area and also feeding the animals over the winter.
1 reply 1 retweet 1 like
Quick look at wikipedia suggests elk and boars are largely woodland species, and not grazers. Bison might be the answer.
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.