Fauna and floral effect on climate.

So must of us have heard about how humans can effect the climate by burning fossil fuels, as well as how bovids  such as cows fart out methane gas. But I want to also bring attention to another effect and that is the symbiotic relationship of grasslands and megafauna, particularly in the arctic. So right now there is a study going on in Yakutia just outside of Chersky where Sergey Zimov has created the Pleistocene Park in order to recreate the Mammoth steppe in the arctic. Right now permafrost around the world is melting which release huge amounts of greenhouse gases, more then we could ever produce on our own. Sergey proposes that we should introduce large herbivores such as horses and bison to compact the winter snow and allow the Siberian cold penetrate deeper into the ground (snow cover insulates the ground from the cold). On top of that these herbivores promote the growth of grass which acts as a carbon sink, especially in the arctic where nothing decomposes. These herbivores will also nock down and trample trees which shade the grass and with their dark colors absorb more light and warm up the surroundings, grass on the other hand is a lighter color and reflects away more light giving a cooling effect. So the theory goes that by introducing huge herds of herbivores, they will prevent the melting of the permafrost, or at least slow it down and thus help mitigate climate change. What are your thoughts on this? Do you think this is something governments should start funding, or is this something that will never work, or even if it does, the amount of methane farted out by these herbivores won't be worth it. 


If you would like to learn more there is also a Kickstarter that goes into greater detail (it was a success btw, so you don't need to help them with funds) and here is also a greater in depth documentary.




you can also talk about any other effects that come to mind.