The Return

Forwarded from Best of Hominins

The summit of Gregory Bald (el. 4,949 ft/1,508 m) in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina.

The character and distribution of Appalachian balds remained stable from the time the first naturalists explored the region, until forestry regulations no longer permitted annual pasturing of local cattle. While there is some evidence that grassy balds have natural origins, the forest quickly started to reclaim the balds once large-scale livestock grazing was eliminated by the creation of national parks and national forests, with some such as Gregory Bald being maintained by the National Park Service.

While it seems that the balds are maintained by the feeding activities of herbivores, another theory is that the balds are isolated artifacts, not natural landscapes, and a result of Native American activities or the European settlers’ agricultural practices. In other words, that the land is maintained by humans herding herbivores up there.

#Ecosystem #Prehistoric #NorthAmerica

www.tg-me.com/us/The Return/com.TheGreenPill/923

810 viewsAug 23, 2021 at 17:32

The summit of Gregory Bald (el. 4,949 ft/1,508 m) in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina.

The character and distribution of Appalachian balds remained stable from the time the first naturalists explored the region, until forestry regulations no longer permitted annual pasturing of local cattle. While there is some evidence that grassy balds have natural origins, the forest quickly started to reclaim the balds once large-scale livestock grazing was eliminated by the creation of national parks and national forests, with some such as Gregory Bald being maintained by the National Park Service.

While it seems that the balds are maintained by the feeding activities of herbivores, another theory is that the balds are isolated artifacts, not natural landscapes, and a result of Native American activities or the European settlers’ agricultural practices. In other words, that the land is maintained by humans herding herbivores up there.

#Ecosystem #Prehistoric #NorthAmerica

BY The Return