News Life

When snowpack shrinks, elk can binge on aspen

Grazers eat more young saplings, may harm vulnerable trees

By Susan Milius

- More than 2 years ago

One of the Rube Goldberg effects of climate change — a dwindling winter snowpack that changes elk grazing habits — might end up as a major menace to the iconic aspen trees of the Rocky Mountains.

As a changing climate creates a skimpier snowpack in the Rockies, elk in winter find it easier to graze on the young shoots of aspen, thinning the number of new recruits that can sustain tree stands.