Theme 1: Grassland Ecology
Description
Losses in biodiversity abound in modern agroecosystems, and biodiversity loss hampers ecosystem function and primary productivity comparable to abiotic stress. One of the most endangered ecosystems in the world is North American tallgrass prairie, and native birds and pollinators that historically depended on tallgrass prairie are in precipitous decline. Fortunately, native warm-season grasses that dominated tallgrass prairie present a valuable opportunity for summer forage to beef producers in the Eastern United States—a time when coolseason grasses endure a lack in productivity called the “summer slump.” Tallgrass prairie was sustained by periodic disturbance from grazing and fire, and combining fire and grazing to manage native warm-season grasslands creates greater landscape heterogeneity than grazing of cool-season grasslands alone. As a result, native warm-season grasslands can support a wide variety of native grassland birds and pollinators while providing nutritious summer forage for beef production. Ultimately, establishing native warm-season grasslands on beef producer farms offers synergy between conservation and farm productivity that can translate to farm profitability.
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Biodiversity—The Birds and the Bees and Healthy Grasslands
Losses in biodiversity abound in modern agroecosystems, and biodiversity loss hampers ecosystem function and primary productivity comparable to abiotic stress. One of the most endangered ecosystems in the world is North American tallgrass prairie, and native birds and pollinators that historically depended on tallgrass prairie are in precipitous decline. Fortunately, native warm-season grasses that dominated tallgrass prairie present a valuable opportunity for summer forage to beef producers in the Eastern United States—a time when coolseason grasses endure a lack in productivity called the “summer slump.” Tallgrass prairie was sustained by periodic disturbance from grazing and fire, and combining fire and grazing to manage native warm-season grasslands creates greater landscape heterogeneity than grazing of cool-season grasslands alone. As a result, native warm-season grasslands can support a wide variety of native grassland birds and pollinators while providing nutritious summer forage for beef production. Ultimately, establishing native warm-season grasslands on beef producer farms offers synergy between conservation and farm productivity that can translate to farm profitability.
