CHAPTER 14 GRASSLANDS RESTORING THE RANGE The key to recovering the world’s grasslands may be a surprising one

1. CHAPTER 14 GRASSLANDSRESTORING THE RANGEThe key to recovering the world’s grasslands may be a surprising one

2. 14 RESTORING THE RANGEThe key to recovering the world’s grasslands may be a surprising one Grasslands offer important ecosystem services that are used for grazing all over the world. Desertification caused by overgrazing is the most common problem facing grasslands, but they can be protected through innovative livestock practices. Main Concept

3. 14 RESTORING THE RANGEThe key to recovering the world’s grasslands may be a surprising one Learning Outcomes • At the end of this chapter you should know: • There are many types and locations of grasslands around the world. • The importance of grasslands is compromised by over- and undergrazing. • We can manage grasslands to lessen the threat and maintain productivity.

4. 14 RESTORING THE RANGEThe key to recovering the world’s grasslands may be a surprising one Issue: Climate change and grazing are changing prairie grasslands into desert. Problems are similar around the world, as 70% of the world’s rangeland—about one-third of the Earth’s entire land surface—is threatened by desertification. Ecological cascade – Plants die, soil erodes, prairies fail, famines set in, economies falter, societies fail. Case study: Horse Creek Ranch in South Dakota— grazing more cattle to save the prairie. Cattle and goats have pulverized the drought-prone Omo in Ethiopia into dust.

5. 14 Grasslands provide a wide range of important goods and services TERMS TO KNOW: Rangeland Desertification Overgrazing Conservation reserve program Grasslands Grasslands are biomes that receive enough rainfall to support grass and herbaceous plants, but not enough to support forests. They may also be found in regions with plentiful rainfall, but periodic fires and grazing herbivores keep larger plants from dominating.

6. 14 Grasslands provide a wide range of important goods and services Herbivores have traditionally been good for grasslands: Herbivores evolved with the grasslands and can subsist on grasslands alone. Grasses grow from the base upward—by clipping off the top part of the blade, new growth and shoots are stimulated to grow by exposure to light. Soil broken by the herbivores’ hooves allows water to penetrate the ground. Waste from the animals provides nitrogen and phosphorus to fertilize the grasses. Threats to grasslands come from: Climate change Human land-use decisions Overgrazing

7. 14 Grasslands provide a wide range of important goods and services Herbivores have now overgrazed most of the world’s grasslands: With overgrazing, the growth area of the grass blade is destroyed. If the blade can’t regenerate, the plant dies. There are no plants to hold soil in place and frequent stomping of hooves compacts the soil. Water can’t penetrate compacted soil. Seeds can’t germinate or grow. Increased rates of erosion. Ecosystem services are lost. Ecosystem services from grasslands: Wildlife habitat, grazing, biomass, nutrient cycling, soil formation, carbon sequestration, protection of surface waters…

8. 14 Grasslands face a variety of human and natural threats Every inhabited continent has grasslands vulnerable to desertification, especially in arid areas close to existing deserts. Grasses are adapted to grazing: Cropping the grass stimulates the growth area at the base of the blade. Overgrazing may remove this growth area and kill grasses, increasing the potential for desertification.

9. 14 Grasslands face a variety of human and natural threats TERMS TO KNOW: Herbivore Soil erosion Continued ecological cascade following erosion—denuded landscape reflects incoming sunlight, altering wind and temperature patterns. Tragedy of the Commons example from American history—settlers and their overgrazing left no grass to hold the soil in place when the next drought came through. Native prairie grasses have roots up to 16 feet long, which allow them to access deep water supplies during droughts. The roots also hold the soil in place much better than shallow-rooted crops.

10. 14 Grasslands face a variety of human and natural threats TERMS TO KNOW: Herbivore Soil erosion Continued ecological cascade following erosion—denuded landscape reflects incoming sunlight, altering wind and temperature patterns. Tragedy of the Commons example from American history—settlers and their overgrazing left no grass to hold the soil in place when the next drought came through.

11. 14 Grasslands face a variety of human and natural threats TERMS TO KNOW: Herbivore Soil erosion Soil is produced by the decay of organic material and the weathering of rock. Distinct layers are seen in healthy soils with the topsoil (A horizon) being the most fertile for plant growth. Desertification will reduce or remove the O and A horizon and produce drier B and C horizons.

12. 14 Grasslands face a variety of human and natural threats TERMS TO KNOW: Herbivore Soil erosion Grassland degradation has cost humans about 12% of global grain production, $23 billion in global GDP, and has threatened the food supply of more than one billion people.

13. 14 Taking our cues from nature, we can learn to use rangelands sustainably TERMS TO KNOW: Pastoralists In the two decades since ACHM was established, wild and domestic herds have returned to graze, plants have rebounded, water is plentiful, and livestock have increased by 400%. Wild herds grazed intensively and then moved on. They grazed in tight groups to avoid predation and didn’t move back to any one area until the dung had been absorbed and the grasses had recovered. Pastoralists had mimicked this strategy, but nineteenth-century ranchers didn’t. Biologist Allan Savory and the African Center for Holistic Management (ACHM)

14. 14 Taking our cues from nature, we can learn to use rangelands sustainably TERMS TO KNOW: Pastoralists In the two decades since ACHM was established, wild and domestic herds have returned to graze, plants have rebounded, water is plentiful, and livestock have increased by 400%. Biologist Allan Savory and the African Center for Holistic Management (ACHM) Livestock allowed to stay on a pasture too long will damage the plants, which slows or prevents recovery.

15. 14 Taking our cues from nature, we can learn to use rangelands sustainably Undergrazing also comes with problems. Without herbivores to eat the grasses, sunlight isn’t able to reach the growth buds and grasses die. TERMS TO KNOW: Pastoralists Nutrients are then processed by soil microbes rather than by the animals’ digestive tracts. Animals become more selective, choosing only the sweetest plants and leaving the weeds to prosper.

16. 14 Taking our cues from nature, we can learn to use rangelands sustainably TERMS TO KNOW: Pastoralists Experiments in biomimicry led the scientist and local ranchers to try something different in the face of government recommendation, failure, and desperation. All the livestock were pulled together in a small paddock for grazing for only a couple days before moving to the next paddock. The first paddock was tuned into lumps of soil, dung, and freshly exposed growth buds. By the time the cattle reached the last paddock, they were ready for market and all the paddocks would have an entire season to recover.

17. 14 Taking our cues from nature, we can learn to use rangelands sustainably TERMS TO KNOW: Pastoralists Experiments in biomimicry led the scientist and local ranchers to try something different in the face of government recommendation, failure, and desperation. All the livestock were pulled together in a small paddock for grazing for only a couple days before moving to the next paddock. The first paddock was tuned into lumps of soil, dung, and freshly exposed growth buds. By the time the cattle reached the last paddock, they were ready for market and all the paddocks would have an entire season to recover.

18. 14 Taking our cues from nature, we can learn to use rangelands sustainably TERMS TO KNOW: Pastoralists Experiments in biomimicry led the scientist and local ranchers to try something different in the face of government recommendation, failure, and desperation. All the livestock were pulled together in a small paddock for grazing for only a couple days before moving to the next paddock. The first paddock was tuned into lumps of soil, dung, and freshly exposed growth buds. By the time the cattle reached the last paddock, they were ready for market and all the paddocks would have an entire season to recover.

19. 14 Taking our cues from nature, we can learn to use rangelands sustainably TERMS TO KNOW: Pastoralists An important but under-realized reality is that the more animals on a site, the less selective they are able to become. With high animal density and competition for nutrients, the herbivores will eat whatever is available. Destructive grazing is an issue of time at the grazing site more than the number of animals there.

20. 14 Counteracting overgrazing requires careful planning TERMS TO KNOW: Herbivore Soil erosion With careful planning, a third-generation rancher in South Dakota works around water availability, bloom cycles of poisonous plants, migration patterns of wild animals, and the reproductive cycle of parasites. Livestock are allowed to graze intensively on a plot and then are moved to the next plot. In this example, each plot is grazed for one month. By the time they return to a given plot, it will have recovered. All plants, not just the sweetest, are grazed equally. The best-tasting plants don’t waste energy on chemical defenses, and biomass levels are kept at an ideal range.

21. 14 Planning grazing is tricky work TERMS TO KNOW: Rotational grazing Sustainable grazing A shelterbelt of trees may be able to hold back the Gobi Desert and keep the farmland fertile. Some ranchers argue that existing methods of continuous grazing work just as well as sustainable grazing when done properly and are easier to manage. Improved grazing techniques can help protect and even restore some degraded grasslands.

22. 14 Planning grazing is tricky work Other approaches also help preserve grasslands by limiting land uses and making it easier to keep the land in some level of protected status. “Ranching is a culture, steeped in tradition. But our lands are hurting and our communities are dying, and we know we’ve got to do something to fix that.” Joe Morris, California rancher

23. 14 Planning grazing is tricky work Other approaches also help preserve grasslands by limiting land uses and making it easier to keep the land in some level of protected status. “Ranching is a culture, steeped in tradition. But our lands are hurting and our communities are dying, and we know we’ve got to do something to fix that.” Joe Morris, California rancher

24. 14 Planning grazing is tricky work Other approaches also help preserve grasslands by limiting land uses and making it easier to keep the land in some level of protected status. “Ranching is a culture, steeped in tradition. But our lands are hurting and our communities are dying, and we know we’ve got to do something to fix that.” Joe Morris, California rancher

25. 14 Planning grazing is tricky work Other approaches also help preserve grasslands by limiting land uses and making it easier to keep the land in some level of protected status. “Ranching is a culture, steeped in tradition. But our lands are hurting and our communities are dying, and we know we’ve got to do something to fix that.” Joe Morris, California rancher

26. 14 Planning grazing is tricky work Other approaches also help preserve grasslands by limiting land uses and making it easier to keep the land in some level of protected status. “Ranching is a culture, steeped in tradition. But our lands are hurting and our communities are dying, and we know we’ve got to do something to fix that.” Joe Morris, California rancher

27. 14 PERSONAL CHOICES THAT HELP

28. 14 UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUE

29. 14 UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUE

30. 14 ANALYZING THE SCIENCE

31. 14 ANALYZING THE SCIENCE

32. 14 EVALUATING NEW INFORMATION www.eatwild.com

33. 14 MAKING CONNECTIONS