What plant is consumed as a specific winter alternative when preferred grasses are inaccessible due to snow?
Answer
Sagebrush
When deep snow blankets the terrain during the coldest months, the wood bison’s primary food source—grasses and sedges—becomes physically locked away, even with their specialized sweeping technique. This forces a reliance on alternative greenery that remains accessible. Sagebrush is identified specifically as this type of winter alternative forage. Consuming sagebrush allows the bison to meet minimum energy requirements when the preferred, high-yield graminoids are unavailable, highlighting their necessity to be opportunistic when primary access is cut off by ice or snow cover.
Related Questions
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