Editing Bison (section)

==Diet==
[[File:Elk and Bison inYellowstone, Wyoming.jpg|thumb|A bison and a bull elk grazing together in Yellowstone National Park]]
Bison are [[ruminant]]s, able to ferment [[cellulose]] in a specialized stomach prior to digestion. Bison were once thought to almost exclusively consume grasses and sedges, but are now known to consume a wide-variety of plants including woody plants and herbaceous [[eudicots]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Craine|first1=Joseph M.|last2=Towne|first2=E. Gene|last3=Miller|first3=Mary|last4=Fierer|first4=Noah|date=2015-11-16|title=Climatic warming and the future of bison as grazers|journal=Scientific Reports|language=En|volume=5|issue=1|pages=16738|doi=10.1038/srep16738|pmid=26567987|pmc=4645125|bibcode=2015NatSR...516738C|issn=2045-2322}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Leonard|first1=Joshua L.|last2=Perkins|first2=Lora B.|last3=Lammers|first3=Duane J.|last4=Jenks|first4=Jonathan A.|title=Are Bison Intermediate Feeders? Unveiling Summer Diet Selection at the Northern Fringe of Historical Distribution|journal=Rangeland Ecology & Management|volume=70|issue=4|pages=405–410|doi=10.1016/j.rama.2017.01.005|year=2017|bibcode=2017REcoM..70..405L |s2cid=90039614}}</ref> Over the course of the year, bison shift which plants they select in their diet based on which plants have the highest protein or energy concentrations at a given time and will reliably consume the same species of plants across years.<ref name=":0" /> Protein concentrations of the plants they eat tend to be highest in the spring and decline thereafter, reaching their lowest in the winter.<ref name=":0" /> In Yellowstone National Park, bison browsed willows and cottonwoods, not only in the winter when few other plants are available, but also in the summer.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Painter|first1=Luke E.|last2=Ripple|first2=William J.|title=Effects of bison on willow and cottonwood in northern Yellowstone National Park|journal=Forest Ecology and Management|volume=264|pages=150–158|doi=10.1016/j.foreco.2011.10.010|year=2012|bibcode=2012ForEM.264..150P }}</ref> Bison are thought to migrate to optimize their diet,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Frank|first1=Douglas A.|last2=McNaughton|first2=Samuel J.|last3=Tracy|first3=Benjamin F.|date=1998-07-01|title=The Ecology of the Earth's Grazing Ecosystems|journal=BioScience|language=en|volume=48|issue=7|pages=513–521|doi=10.2307/1313313|issn=0006-3568|jstor=1313313|doi-access=free}}</ref> and will concentrate their feeding on recently burned areas due to the higher quality forage that regrows after the burn.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Allred|first1=Brady W.|last2=Fuhlendorf|first2=Samuel D.|last3=Engle|first3=David M.|last4=Elmore|first4=R. Dwayne|date=2011-10-01|title=Ungulate preference for burned patches reveals strength of fire–grazing interaction|journal=Ecology and Evolution|language=en|volume=1|issue=2|pages=132–144|doi=10.1002/ece3.12|pmid=22393490|pmc=3287302|bibcode=2011EcoEv...1..132A |issn=2045-7758}}</ref> Wisent tend to browse on shrubs and low-hanging trees more often than do the American bison, which prefer grass to shrubbery and trees.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Baskin|first1=Leonid|last2=Danell|first2=Kjell|title=Ecology of ungalates|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UbboCAAAQBAJ&q=wisent+bison+diets&pg=PA190|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|access-date=15 January 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180111150652/https://books.google.com/books?id=UbboCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA190&lpg=PA190&dq=wisent+bison+diets&source=bl&ots=LKO-k2x40b&sig=UL9nZZDE6Gh-Pb7QSainAKFppV4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwic3KfawMPRAhWB5oMKHVn8B6oQ6AEIgQEwEg|archive-date=11 January 2018|isbn=9783662068205|date=2013-04-17}}</ref>