Yellowstone National Park

Epic wildlife migrations

The Kartzinel Lab is collaborating with the National Park Service’s Bison Management Team and the Yellowstone Herbarium to understand how populations of large herbivores including bison, elk, and pronghorn antelope compete with (or facilitate) each other through their foraging behaviors. Informed by GPS-tracking and remote-sensing data, we are combining dietary DNA metabarcoding, field experiments, and vegetation studies to better understand plant-herbivore interactions in this iconic system. We are also developing novel of molecular diagnostics and analytical frameworks to facilitate future studies of wildlife nutrition in the field.