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"Grassland"
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Grassland food webs in action
\"Prairie dogs, vultures, grasshoppers, goldfinches, pocket gophers, and bison are some of the many animals that make up a grassland food web. But do you know how the many types of grasses in a grassland benefit these animals? Or how earthworms and other decomposers play an important role in the food web?\"--Back cover.
Book
Toward an old-growth concept for grasslands, savannas, and woodlands
We expand the concept of \"old growth\" to encompass the distinct ecologies and conservation values of the world's ancient grass-dominated biomes. Biologically rich grasslands, savannas, and open-canopy woodlands suffer from an image problem among scientists, policy makers, land managers, and the general public, that fosters alarming rates of ecosystem destruction and degradation. These biomes have for too long been misrepresented as the result of deforestation followed by arrested succession. We now know that grassy biomes originated millions of years ago, long before humans began deforesting. We present a consensus view from diverse geographic regions on the ecological characteristics needed to identify old-growth grasslands and to distinguish them from recently formed anthropogenic vegetation. If widely adopted, the old-growth grassland concept has the potential to improve scientific understanding, conservation policies, and ecosystem management.
Journal Article
Let's visit the grassland
\"Take a walk in a grassland in this title, which takes readers on a fascinating journey that provides a clear understanding of a grassland ecosystem and the living things within it.\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Variation in body size and plumage does not explain apparent survival for a longdistance migratory songbird, the Bobolink
The Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) is a long-distance migratory grassland songbird whose global population is in long-term decline, largely due to habitat loss and intensification of agricultural practices. To better understand the factors affecting their annual cycle, we used a known-age population of male Bobolinks (n = 121) breeding in agricultural grasslands of Vermont and explored how variation in plumage (extent of yellow in cap) and body morphology (body mass and wing length) explained variation in apparent survival. Bobolink body mass and wing length varied between years 2-5. Bobolink cap size did not change with age. However, none of the 3 morphological characters explained variation in apparent survival. Our results highlight the challenges associated with understanding variation in individual quality relative to age, particularly regarding factors that affect demographic processes in declining species. Received 28 March 2022. Accepted 16 July 2022.
Journal Article
UNEXPECTED THICK-BILLED LONGSPUR
We report the first records of thick-billed longspur (Rhynchophanes mccownii) in Nuevo Leon and San Luis Potosi, Mexico, which constitute out-of-range southeastern observations. We observed thickbilled longspurs during February 2020 as part of two wintering mixed flocks, the first one with horned larks (Eremophila alpestris) in a Mexican prairie dog colony (Cynomys mexicanus) in Nuevo Leon, and the second one with chestnut-collared longspurs (Calcarius ornatus) in a dirt dam near the dry lake bed of Laguna La Mesita, San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Both sites were grasslands with high bare ground values (>80%).
Journal Article
All about grasslands
\"What plants and animals call grassy flatlands home? Find out what lives in grassland habitats.\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Distribution mapping of world grassland types
AIM: National and international policy frameworks, such as the European Union's Renewable Energy Directive, increasingly seek to conserve and reference ‘highly biodiverse grasslands’. However, to date there is no systematic global characterization and distribution map for grassland types. To address this gap, we first propose a systematic definition of grassland. We then integrate International Vegetation Classification (IVC) grassland types with the map of Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World (TEOW). LOCATION: Global. METHODS: We developed a broad definition of grassland as a distinct biotic and ecological unit, noting its similarity to savanna and distinguishing it from woodland and wetland. A grassland is defined as a non‐wetland type with at least 10% vegetation cover, dominated or co‐dominated by graminoid and forb growth forms, and where the trees form a single‐layer canopy with either less than 10% cover and 5 m height (temperate) or less than 40% cover and 8 m height (tropical). We used the IVC division level to classify grasslands into major regional types. We developed an ecologically meaningful spatial catalogue of IVC grassland types by listing IVC grassland formations and divisions where grassland currently occupies, or historically occupied, at least 10% of an ecoregion in the TEOW framework. RESULTS: We created a global biogeographical characterization of the Earth's grassland types, describing approximately 75% of IVC grassland divisions with ecoregions. We mapped 49 IVC grassland divisions. Sixteen additional IVC grassland divisions are absent from the map because of the fine‐scale distribution of these grassland types. MAIN CONCLUSIONS: The framework provided by our geographical mapping effort provides a systematic overview of grasslands and sets the stage for more detailed classification and mapping at finer scales. Each regional grassland type can be characterized in terms of its range of biodiversity, thereby assisting in future policy initiatives.
Journal Article
Grassland management impacts on soil carbon stocks: a new synthesis
Grassland ecosystems cover a large portion of Earths' surface and contain substantial amounts of soil organic carbon. Previous work has established that these soil carbon stocks are sensitive to management and land use changes: grazing, species composition, and mineral nutrient availability can lead to losses or gains of soil carbon. Because of the large annual carbon fluxes into and out of grassland systems, there has been growing interest in how changes in management might shift the net balance of these flows, stemming losses from degrading grasslands or managing systems to increase soil carbon stocks (i.e., carbon sequestration). A synthesis published in 2001 assembled data from hundreds of studies to document soil carbon responses to changes in management. Here we present a new synthesis that has integrated data from the hundreds of studies published after our previous work. These new data largely confirm our earlier conclusions: improved grazing management, fertilization, sowing legumes and improved grass species, irrigation, and conversion from cultivation all tend to lead to increased soil C, at rates ranging from 0.105 to more than 1 Mg C·ha⁻¹yr⁻¹. The new data include assessment of three new management practices: fire, silvopastoralism, and reclamation, although these studies are limited in number. The main area in which the new data are contrary to our previous synthesis is in conversion from native vegetation to grassland, where we find that across the studies the average rate of soil carbon stock change is low and not significant. The data in this synthesis confirm that improving grassland management practices and conversion from cropland to grassland improve soil carbon stocks.
Journal Article