Pleistocene Park

Pleistocene Park (Russian: Плейстоценовый парк, romanized: Pleystotsenovyy park) is a nature reserve in northeastern Siberia, Russia, where Russian scientists Sergey and Nikita Zimov are attempting to re-create the Mammoth steppe that existed during the last glacial period by repopulating the area with large herbivores, in order to mitigate climate change.

Climate change causes permafrost to thaw and emit greenhouse gases, creating a vicious feedback loop which can become catastrophic. The Zimovs hypothesise that the change from tundra to grassland will cool the permafrost and slow or reverse this process and thereby reduce emission of greenhouse gases.

According to them, removal and trampling of snow by animals would reduce the insulation of the permafrost. Increased albedo in grasslands versus forests, would reflect more energy back and keep the ground cooler.

Carbon sequestration underground by grasses and the reduction of methane emission through the drying of the soil would reduce net emissions of greenhouse gases.

To study this, they released several species of large herbivores and monitored their effect on the local flora and permafrost. Preliminary results show that the ecologically low-grade tundra biome converted into a productive grassland biome.

Overview

Pleistocene Park is located on the Kolyma River south of Chersky in the Sakha Republic which is in northeastern Siberia, Russia. It consists of willow brush, grasslands, swamps, forests and a multitude of lakes.The average temperature in January is about –33 °C and in July +12 °C; annual precipitation is 200–250 mm.