Chapter 3: Elephant on Subarctic Dry Loess Steppe

In what kind of a climate has the woolly mammoth lived in the Far North, several thousand years ago? On what kind of a plant-cover has it grazed up there, together with large herds of bison, horses, muskoxen, reindeer, camels, saiga antelopes and mountain sheep?

Some of the world’s leading experts do believe: The woolly mammoth has grazed on a fertile, loess-blown dry steppe, as it is growing now on the southern slopes of Sheep Mountain, at the Kluane Lake, in the southwestern part of the Yukon Territory. The loess, blown there by the wind from the flats of the large glacial rivers, made this northern dry steppe very fertile, so that it was able to feed also the woolly mammoth, they say.

Valerius Geist is now Professor of Zoology at the University of Calgary, Alberta, in West Canada. He states in his book, Mountain Sheep, about Sheep Mountain, at the Kluane Lake, southwestern Yukon: "The outskirts of the St. Elias Range in the Yukon represents optimum, periglacial sheep country. Here Dall’s sheep roam in large bands over dry, dusty mountain slopes in sight of the huge glacier, that stretches for hundreds of miles and fills the interior range. This is a landscape, much as it probably existed in the Alaska-Yukon refugium during the Wisconsin glaciation.

"The river meanders lazily in many channels along the valley floor, eroding the banks, as it goes or filling them with yellow silt. Violent winds sweep the valley; in the evenings they could blast from the glacier, whirling dry silt in yellow clouds several thousand feet high down the valley and sweeping far over Kluane Lake. The mountains are skeletons of rock, heaped over with dust and gravel. I used to sink ankle deep in the loose soil, when climbing, and sheep went everywhere, trailed by puffs of dust in their steps. Dust filled the air, covered the grasses and shrubs, discolored the spruce trees, clung to the cloth and hair, gritted between one’s teeth, and muddied the drinking water.

"The Kluane Lake area is sheep country, as it probably existed during much of the late Pleistocene in the vicinity of large glaciers. We know that the flora of Alaska has changed very little from that of the Pleistocene epoch. At the outskirts of the St. Elias Range, sheep dominate the scene and mountains are laced with their trails and bedding sites. Sheep are the major ruminant here, goats are sighted closer toward the glacier, caribou are absent along the Slims River, and moose are not common." Geist, V. (1971:32).

How would the woolly mammoth have fared, if it had tried to live on the subarctic azonal dry steppe, growing now on Sheep Mountain and on other grasslands, growing now at Kluane Lake? How long would this elephant be able, to live there in summer? And how long would it be able, to live there during the winter, when the plants are dormant? How much food (dry matter), how much energy, and how much protein would the mammoth (or elephant) be able, to take in there? When would it starve to death, due to lack of energy and of protein? Let’s try, to find this out now.

I have been there myself, doing research. It is not quite correct to say: "The Kluane Lake area is sheep country as it probably existed during much of the late Pleistocene in the vicinity of large glaciers. We know that the flora of Alaska has changed very little from that of the Pleistocene epoch. ... This is a landscape much as it probably existed in the Alaska-Yukon refugium during the Wisconsin glaciation." Geist, V. (1971).

The Kluane Lake area lies now at the southern limit of discontinuous permafrost, with isolated patches of permafrost. No ice wedges are growing there now. It lies within the zone of the boreal forest. There are only a few isolated areas with azonal dry steppe, on south-facing slopes. They are able to grow there, because the mighty Alaskan Coast Range is keeping much of the rain away, and because on the south-facing slopes it is much warmer, than on the flat ground, so that it is very dry.

At the peak of the Last Glaciation, most of Alaska and Canada lay within the zone of continuous permafrost, with growing ice wedges. The summer was so cold, and the growing season of the plants was so short, that trees were not able to grow there. Arctic tundra and polar desert were growing there, as we find it now at the arctic coast and on the Canadian High Arctic Islands, but no boreal forest, as we find it now in the Kluane Lake area. The northern tree-line, at the 10° or 12°C July isotherm, lay then in the northern United States, south of the North American continental ice sheet. So it is rather doubtful, whether even polar desert would have been able, to grow then in northern Canada and in Alaska. It was too cold.

On subarctic azonal dry loess steppe

We shall assume now, that the adult Asian non-lactating elephant cow Jap, weighing 3672 kg, were trying to live on the subarctic azonal loess-blown dry steppe on Sheep Mountain. This is the most productive azonal dry loess steppe in the southern Yukon. We shall assume, that this elephant tried to graze up there in late fall and winter, when the plants are dormant. For the grazing animal two things are important: (1) How much above ground dry plant matter is growing there per year. (2) How much digestible crude protein this food contains during the long subarctic winter, when the plants are dormant.

Manfred Hoefs (1984), a zoologist in Whitehorse, Y. T., has studied for 10 years this south-facing semi-arid grassland on Sheep Mountain, in the Kluane National Park, near 62° N. It is the winter range of the Dall sheep (Ovis dalli dalli). Average annual temperature –2.5°C. Annual precipitation is there about 200 mm.

In 1969 this dry loess steppe produced 67.2 g aboveground dry plant matter per square meter. In 1970 it grew 78.7 g/m² per year. In 1971 it produced 63.9 g DM/m², and in 1979 there were 60.4 g DM/m². The average of all four years is 61.7 g DM/m² per year. 61.7 g DM/m² at 200 mm ppt. per year, that is 0.3085 g DM/mm ppt per year.

Jack F. Winters Jr., in Fairbanks, Alaska, was a student of Professor R. Dale Guthrie. Jack F. Winters Jr. studied the "Summer habitat and food utilization by Dall’s sheep and their relation to horn size", and presented it to the University of Alaska, in May 1980. He also tried to find out, how much crude protein the pasture of the Alaskan Dall’s sheep contains in winter. He studied the protein content of the sheep pasture in October and in March. The average crude protein content was then 3.7% CP (dry weight).

This means: During the long subarctic winter, from the beginning of October, until the end of April, the winter pasture of the Dall’s sheep contains an average 3.7% crude protein (dry weight). - The African elephant is still able to live in the semi-desert, where 300 mm of rain produce 255 gram aboveground dry matter per year (Laws, R. M. 1975). During the great drought in Tsavo East National Park, in Kenya, East Africa, in 1970-71, more than 5000 elephants and several hundred black rhinos were starving to death with a full stomach, when only 200 g DM/m² had grown from 235 mm precipitation per year (Phillipson, J. 1975).

We shall first assume, that the aboveground dry plant matter on the loess-blown dry steppe on Sheep Mountain stays just as large as in summer, at 61.7 g DM/m², also during the long subarctic winter. Then we shall assume, that in winter, from the beginning of October onwards, the aboveground plant biomass has gone down to 37 g DM/m² (dry weight). Because that is more realistic. Even in summer, the peak standing crop on the azonal dry loess steppe at other places in the Kluane Lake area is lower than 61.7 g DM/m².

Robert Johansen and co-workers, in Whitehorse, Y.T, Renewable Resources, report about the Artemisia-Festuca (grassland/parkland complex), near the Kluane Lake:

Vegetation: Grassland phase:

Forage production: 370 kg/ha (37 g/m²)

Grazing capacity: 15 ha/AUY (0.15 km²/AUY)

"This is the most productive dry grassland type. It provides good forage for domestic animals. It will green up early in the spring and have little snow cover during the winter. This type should not be overutilized, due to the potential for erosion on the steep south facing slopes. Soil overlain by windblown loess." Johansen, R. (1989).

DCP-Deficit and Death on Subarctic Dry Loess Steppe

How long would the adult Asian elephant cow Jap be able, to live on the subarctic azonal dry loess-steppe, on Sheep Mountain, at Kluane Lake, southwestern Yukon, near 62° North? When will she starve to death, due to lack of protein? After how many days?

The adult Asian elephant cow Jap weighs 3672 kg. She takes in 45.89 kg dry matter (hay) per day. Her food contained 7.081% crude protein. She digested 48% of this crude protein. She took in then 1.523 kg crude protein (dry weight) per day. She needed 3.228 g DCP/kg^0.75 per day for maintenance. She will starve to death, when her critical intake deficit of digestible crude protein has reached 145.045 kg (dry weight), or 3.95% of her body weight.

The African elephant is still able to live, where 255 g DM/m² has grown per year from 300 mm of rain during 8-9 wet months of the year. During the great drought of 1970-71 in Tsavo East N. Park, East Africa, about 5000 elephants and several hundred black rhinos have starved to death with a full stomach, where only 200 gDM/m² had grown per year from 235 mm of rain. (Phillipson, J. 1975:176). The loess-blown dry subarctic loess-steppe on Sheep Mountain produces 61.7 g above ground dry matter per year from 200 mm precipitation (Manfred Hoefs, 1984).

The Artemisia-Festuca (grassland/parkland complex), near the Kluane Lake: Vegetation: Grassland phase: Forage production: 370 kg/ha (37 g/m²) (R. Johansen 1989).

How long will the adult elephant be able, to live on this dry loess-steppe during the long subarctic winter, when the plants are dormant? Peak plant growth in summer is an average 61.7 g DM/m² per year. During the winter, from the beginning of October, till the end of March, the forage on the winter range of the Alaskan Dall sheep contains about 3.7% crude protein (dry weight) (J. F. Winters 1980). How long will the adult elephant be able, to live on this dry loess steppe during the long subarctic winter, when there is 37 g /m² aboveground dry matter? And how long would the elephant be able, to live up there, if there were 61.7 g DM/m², not only in summer, but also in winter, with 3.7% crude protein?

On subarctic dry loess steppe in winter, at 37 g DM/m²

The Asian adult elephant cow Jap takes in 45.89 kg dry matter per day. It contains 7.081% crude protein. She takes in then 3.152 kg CP/day. She digests then 48% of this crude protein. She is at maintenance at 3.228 g DCP/kg^0.75 day. When the food contains only 3.7% CP (dry wt), the elephant will digest about 18% of this crude protein.

At 255 g DM/m².year, in Africa, where elephant is still able to live

7.081% CP = 3.152 kg CP/day (digests 48% of CP), takes in 1.523 kg DCP/day.

Food contains 3.7% CP, digests 18% of CP = 1.2748 kg

At 37 g DM/m² on subarctic loess steppe in winter

255 g DM/m² : 37 g DM/m² = 6.892 times less.

1.2748 kg DCP/day (at 3.7% CP and 255 g DM/m²) :6.892 = 0.185 kg DCP/day intake.

1.523 kg DCP/day (dry wt), Jap’s intake at maintenance minus 0.185 kg DCP/day (on 37 g DM/m² plant-cover in winter on subarctic loess steppe) = 1.338 kg DCP/day deficit.

145.045 kg DCP (dry wt) deficit and death of 3672 kg adult elephant.

145.045 kg DCP (dry wt) : 1.338 kg DCP/day deficit = 108.4 times less = 108 days.

This means: The adult elephant Jap will starve to death, due to lack of digestible crude protein, after 108 days. If she starts to graze on this winter Dall sheep pasture at the 1 October, she will die on 16 January. After about 3.5 months. Neither the elephant today, nor the mammoth a few thousand years ago are able to live on the subarctic dry loess steppe. There is too little food. It contains too little energy and protein.

On subarctic dry loess steppe in winter, at 61.7 g DM/m²

How long would the adult Asian elephant cow be able to live on the subarctic dry loess-steppe in winter, if we assume, that it contains 61.7 g DM/m², not only in summer, but also in winter? This is not realistic, but we want to help here the poor elephant as much as possible. And we want to help here also the ice-age experts and paleontologists, who still do believe that the mammoth was adapted to a severe arctic climate.

255 g DM/m² year : 61.7 g DM/m² = 4.133 times less.

1.2748 kg DCP/day (at 3.7% CP in winter) and 255 g DM/m² year, where elephant is still able to live) : 4.133 = 0.30844 kg DCP/day (at 61.7 g DM/m².yr)

1.523 kg DCP/day minus 0.30844 = 1.21456 kg DCP/day

145.045 kg DCP (deficit and death of 3672 kg adult elephant) : 1.21456 kg DCP/day deficit = 119.4

This means: When the elephant cow Jap is grazing in winter on the subarctic dry loess steppe at 62° North, when there is 61.7 g DM/m², just like in summer (which is not realistic), she will starve to death, due to lack of protein after 119 days, or 4 months. With this, the assumed adaptation of the woolly mammoth (which is also an elephant), has now been quantitatively disproved, once for all times. Any assertions to the contrary are only wishful thinking. - But why does the elephant not starve there to death then right away, within a few days? Why is it still able to survive there for about 108 and 119 days, since the elephant will not find there any food? The dry grass, with 3.7% CP, is not elephant food anymore.

Even, when the elephant would not find there a single stalk of grass, or a twig, it will not die at once, if it finds enough to drink. The animal will use up then first its body reserves of fat and protein. When they are used up, it will use (digest) its own body tissue, until it breaks down and dies. That was in the present climate at Sheep Mountain in the southwestern part of the Yukon Territory, on the azonal dry steppe, the winter range of the Dall sheep, at 200 mm precipitation per year. How much would have grown there at the peak of the Last Glaciation?

The American anthropologist Olga Soffer, University of Illinois, USA, has worked 12 years in Russia. She states about the climate of the Russian Plain during the Last Glacial Maximum, between 20,000 and 18,000 B.P.: The northern half of the Russian Plain has had then a mean annual precipitation of 60 to 120 mm or an average 90 mm. Today it is 600 mm. That is 6.67 times less than now (1990:232, 233). This means: During the height of the Last Glaciation mean annual precipitation was about 90 mm. How much aboveground vegetation (dry weight) would have grown then on the azonal dry loess steppe of Sheep Mountain at Kluane Lake? At 200 mm precipitation per year, about 0.3085 g DM/m² is growing there now.

0.3085 g DM/m² x 90 mm ppt/yr = 27.765 g DM/m² yr.

This means: During the peak of the Last Glaciation, only about 28 g aboveground vegetation per square meter per year would have grown there. Neither the elephant (mammoth) nor the bison could have lived there. They would have starved there to death. The African elephant is still able to live, where 255 g DM/m² (dry wt) has grown per year. It will starve to death with a full stomach, where only 200 g DM/m² has grown per year. – How much would it have to rain now, so that 255 g DM/m² would grow there per year?

255 g DM/m² yr : 0.3085 g DM/mm ppt yr = 826 mm

This means: 255 g DM/m² yr would be able to grow now on the azonal dry loess steppe of Sheep Mountain in the southwestern Yukon Territory, if annual precipitation were 826 mm. That is 4.13 times more than now. This also shows us: Mean annual precipitation had to be 4 times larger than now, when the woolly mammoth was living there. 255 g DM/m² yr is only the lower limit, where the elephant is still able to live. Actually, the average annual aboveground plant production must be much higher, to support the elephant. And annual precipitation would also to have been that much larger than 826 mm per year.

Woolly mammoths in Central Northern Siberia. A wolverine in the foreground, chewing on bones. From: A. J. Sutcliffe, On the track of the Ice Age mammals (1985), British Museum (Natural History), London.