Global Warming May Mean Smaller Buffalo

An assistant professor in the Division of Biology at Kansas State University is projecting that grazing animals such as bison and cattle will get smaller due to global warming in the Great Plains.  The conclusion came about by comparing bison in cooler, wetter regions with those in warmer, drier regions. For example, the average 7-year-old male bison in South Dakota weighed 1,900 pounds, while an average 7-year-old male bison in Oklahoma -- a warmer region -- weighed 1,300 pounds. The cause: grasses in the southern Great Plains have less protein than grasses in the northern Great Plains because of the warmer climate.  read more

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