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Comment by upghost | Hacker News Reader

I wish the article dove into this a little. Very interested in why the large herds are so important. Seems counter-intuitive, you know? Like they would consume lots of resources? Would be very interested in understanding the ecology better. Do you (or anyone) happen to have some resources on this?

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you can regenerate soil with these large herds. It is the trampling of soil under hoof. Millions of tilling animals. This builds up soil. Topsoil in the plains used to be 16+ inches. Now it is under 4. Gone on some places. We removed the way it was re-built when eroded (or in our case, farmed away)

Topsoil in the plains was many feet prior to the dustbowl. Probably not everywhere but many prairie plants have roots down to 15-20 feet.

Topsoil is what we call the upper "living" aerobic portion of soil. It is the portion of soil that participates in nutrient cycling. Roots into subsoil turn it into top soil over time. Tilling kills topsoil. So, its not that all the dirt flew away. Some did, but mostly it just died and turned back into subsoil.

In addition buffalo form wallows that collect rain water and support many amphibians and plant species: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_wallow

huh, neat. Kinda how beavers made beaver dams all over the place, slowing down water flows and keeping water in the ecosystem instead of washing it downhill. But this is same principle in the plains.

Also reminds me of Zai holes or crescent-dikes for rainwater harvesting and planting. Apparently it's a technique being used to limit and reforest the encroachment of the Sahara. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Za%C3%AF

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Plains_ecoregion

It is actually quite simple. Unless you artificially restrict the ability for a herd to migrate, herds will migrate from a spot where they have eaten the greenery to an area where there is more greenery.

This rotation allows the soil to regain its fertility without the grasslands becoming completely denuded.

That is to say: Rotational grazing is very beneficial. Grazing only becomes problematic when rotation is severely restricted.

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