Russians scientists reveal plan to restore part of Arctic Siberia to its Ice Age condition

Over the years, the trees at Pleistocene Park have been flattened using  powerful tank-like vehicles. But, in order to keep the trees from taking  over again, the ambitious plans call for the services of hundreds of  thousands of woolly mammoths

At a 50-square mile nature reserve tucked  deep in Arctic Siberia, scientists are working on a radical plan to  fight climate change by reviving the ancient grasslands of the last Ice  Age – and the beasts that once roamed them.

While  this period is better known for the glaciers that swathed the  continents until 12,000 years ago, the grasslands of the Mammoth Steppe  ecosystem also dominated much of 
the surface.

Researchers  at Pleistocene Park are attempting to reintroduce wild herbivores and  even resurrect woolly mammoths to revert Beringia to a grassy landscape  that absorbs less heat than the forests there today, in efforts to stop  the thawing of Siberia’s permafrost.Arctic permafrost is often said to be a climate change ‘ticking time bomb.’

As  Earth warms and the frozen soil thaws, it threatens to release massive  amounts of carbon stored within, which could escape in the form of  carbon dioxide and methane.

In turn, these powerful greenhouse gasses could trigger runaway climate change. Sergey  Zimov first had the idea to introduce a Mammoth Steppe ecosystem to  Beringia decades ago, essentially creating a cold-weather version of the  African savannah, The Atlantic reports.

Pleistocene  Park, named for an epoch that spanned roughly 2.6 million to 12,000  years ago, was founded in 1996, and is now under the control of Sergey’s  son, Nikita.

It’s thought that the  grasslands will reflect more sunlight, allowing the winter freeze to  penetrate deeper into the crust, and cool the soil beneath.

This would slow the melting of the permafrost.   

‘To  make permafrost colder, all that is needed is to remove heat insulating  snow cover, and expose the ground to the extreme negative temperatures  of the Arctic,’ the park’s Kickstarter campaign explains in a bid to raise $106,000 for the project.

‘In  the steppe ecosystems, animal density is so high that animals looking  for forage trample all the snow in the pastures several times per  winter.

‘This compacts the snow, massively reducing its heat insulating abilities.’ Over the years, the trees at the park have been flattened using powerful tank-like vehicles. But,  in order to keep the trees from taking over again, they’ll need to  employ hundreds of thousands of woolly mammoths, according to The  Atlantic.

Scientists are already  working to resurrect the ancient beasts by editing the genes of the  Asian elephant, with hopes that natural selection will eventually refine  their creation – if they are ever successfully manufactured.

The park is so far home to wild horses, bison, and musk oxen – all crucial to the grassland ecosystem.

And, it’ll soon need predators.According to The Atlantic, Nikita plans to  bring in grey wolves, Siberian Tigers, and cold-adapted Canadian  cougars – and, if scientists succeed in resurrecting extinct species,  they may even bring back cave lions and dire wolves.

‘For  an ecosystem to be sustainable it must have large heavy grazers, such  as elephants, ruminants such as cows and goats, predators such as wolves  and tigers etc,’ the park’s website explains.

These  ecosystems were extremely stable, the post continues, as ‘high animal  density only allowed grasses to be the dominating vegetation, since only  grasses can sustain active grazing. ‘Shrubs, moss, and trees were either trampled or broken.’