The disappearance of the mammoth megafauna, which dominated the tundra-steppes of the Northern Hemisphere from Europe to Alaska in the late Pleistocene, remains one of the most intriguing mysteries. At the turn of the late Pleistocene and Holocene, there was a mass extinction of large mammals in the post-glacial Holarctic, but some of them were able to adapt to new conditions. The sub-Pleistocene steppe bison was one of the most typical representatives of the mammoth megafauna. In North America, the steppe branch of its descendants received the greatest development in the Holocene. In Eurasia - the historical homeland of bison - forest forms have evolved to the maximum, although the belt of Eurasian steppes is no less extensive, productive and diverse than the American prairies. The main versions of the absence of the Eurasian Holocene form of bison are considered. Using the example of the history and current state of the American form of the plains bison Bison bison bison, the high ecological plasticity, entertainment and unique agro-ecological properties of bison for the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of steppes and prairies of the Northern Hemisphere are shown. For the first time, a detailed analysis of the history of the survival of the bison as a species in a critical situation was carried out. Semi-free pasture breeding of bison, bison husbandry is proposed as a means of diversifying agriculture, especially for the development of little-demanded agricultural land in the dry steppe subzone of Eurasia.

The monograph is published as part of fundamental research at the Institute of the Steppe of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the topic “Geoecological justification of innovative principles of land use and subsoil use, ensuring sustainable development of agricultural regions of Russia", state. reg. No. 01201351530; and the project “Steppe and forest-steppe of the Russian Federation: current problems of land use and spatial development in the context of economic modernization” 12-G1-5-1005, state. reg. No. 01201270039 Programs of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences N931