4/29/26 Entry #10 Free Choice

 The video we watched about the Bison was especially interesting to me because of the link between behavior and genetics. The scientists were able to relate their instinctual behavior to their genes as a built in survival mechanism. The bison were introduced into a mountain environment and they were naturally able to climb to higher elevations in a search for food, when it became seasonally scarce at the lower elevations.. I was impressed by the broad impact the bison’s natural behaviors were on the ecology. For example, the depressions the bison created from wallowing were beneficial to insect species diversification. I’m curious as to how these instincts are coded into the bison’s DNA. The understanding of their impact on the environment is critical to understanding how a keystone species impacts an environment. 


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