Recent advances in understanding grasslands

Stevens, Carly J.

doi:10.12688/f1000research.15050.1

Cited by 14 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 30 publications

(32 reference statements)

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“…Conservation and restoration of wetlands are essential because they provide numerous ecosystem services and societal benefits that include hydrologic functions for flood protection and water treatment; essential habitats for multiple aquatic, avian, insect, and terrestrial species; and climate regulation [139][140][141][142]. Perennial grassland conservation and regeneration supports landscape hydrologic functions, provides carbon sequestration capacity and essential pollinator habitat, in addition to providing erosion control [143][144][145][146]. Within the context of 'area-based conservation', these NbS applications specifically support the UN SDGs of 'sustainable cities and communities' (UN SDG 11) 'climate action' (UN SDG 13), 'life below water' (UN SDG 14), and 'life on land' (UN SDG 15).…”

Section: Ecosystem Protection Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Typology of Nature-Based Solutions for Sustainable Development: An Analysis of Form, Function, Nomenclature, and Associated Applications

Anderson

Gough

2022

Land

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This study presents a typology of nature-based solutions (NbS), addressing the need for a standardized source of definitions and nomenclature, and to facilitate communication in this interdisciplinary field of theory and practice. Growing usage of the umbrella phrase ‘nature-based solutions’ has led to a broad inclusion of terms. With the diversity of terminology used, the full potential of NbS may be lost in the confusion of misapplied terms. Standardization and definition of commonly used nature-based nomenclature are necessary to facilitate communication in this rapidly expanding field. Through objective systemization of applications, functions, and benefits, NbS can be embraced as a standard intervention to address societal challenges and support achievement of the UN SDGs.

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Section: Ecosystem Protection Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Typology of Nature-Based Solutions for Sustainable Development: An Analysis of Form, Function, Nomenclature, and Associated Applications

Anderson

Gough

2022

Land

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“…Given the extent of ecosystem degradation resulting from environmental changes and human activity [1,2], restoration efforts have increasingly focused on biodiversity and ecosystem services [3,4]. Grassland, which is widely distributed around the globe, is an important terrestrial ecosystem due to a wide range of ecosystem services such as climate regulation, wind prevention and sand fixation, water conservation, biodiversity protection, and carbon sequestration [5][6][7][8][9]. Grassland is also an important ecosystem and natural resource in China, covering an area of approximately 4 million km 2 , which accounts for more than 40% of the country's land area and represents a major contributor to net ecosystem productivity [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cultivated land; 2 Forest land;3 Water land;4 Urban and rural construction land;5 Unused land;6 High-cover grassland; 7 Medium-cover grassland; 8 Low-cover grassland;9 Saline-alkali land.…”

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confidence: 99%

Quantifying the Ecosystem Services of Soda Saline-Alkali Grasslands in Western Jilin Province, NE China

Lei

Zhao

Jiang

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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This study aimed to quantitatively describe the ecosystem services of soda saline-alkali grasslands based on literature research, the InVEST model, a transition matrix, and Spearman’s correlation analysis. The chosen methodology could provide insight into the relationships between different services to provide empirical evidence for decision-making concerning the protection and restoration of saline-alkali grasslands. The research provided several insights into the ecological situation in western Jilin Province. First, the area of saline-alkali grassland in western Jilin Province had noticeably decreased from 1990 to 2018. Moreover, the threat of grassland degradation in western Jilin Province has increased year by year, and has become the main problem facing the ecological environment of this region. Second, the results demonstrated how the amount of grassland area, and coverage, are intricately linked to the provided ecosystem services, and maintaining the stability of ecosystem services is the basis for future efforts to increase grassland area and coverage. A trade-off relationship exists between water supply services and other ecosystem services, which indirectly confirms a climatic cause for grassland salinization in western Jilin Province. The analyses identified various types of grassland ecosystem service hotspots, but the share of hotspots representing all four assessed ecosystem services was small; this indicates that the grassland ecosystem of western Jilin Province is of generally poor quality. In conclusion, increasing grassland salinization has reduced vegetation coverage, which leads to the degradation of the grassland ecosystem and, in turn, affects the relationships between various ecosystem services.

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“…Grasslands are among the most important terrestrial ecosystems in the world. They cover 3.4 billion ha, occupy 40% of global terrestrial area and 69% of global agricultural area [1][2] , account for more than 30% of terrestrial net primary productivity, and provide many services including food production, furs, tourism, and climate change mitigation. However, grasslands are degrading rapidly [2] due to climate change (including warming and changing precipitation regimes) and human disturbance (including the overgrazing, trampling by tourists, and vehicle disturbance).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They cover 3.4 billion ha, occupy 40% of global terrestrial area and 69% of global agricultural area [1][2] , account for more than 30% of terrestrial net primary productivity, and provide many services including food production, furs, tourism, and climate change mitigation. However, grasslands are degrading rapidly [2] due to climate change (including warming and changing precipitation regimes) and human disturbance (including the overgrazing, trampling by tourists, and vehicle disturbance). Symptoms of grassland degradation include rodent outbreaks [3][4] , decreases in the proportion of high-quality forage [5] , and reductions in plant diversity [5][6] and productivity [5] .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationships between plant community productivity and diversity vary with trampling disturbance in an Inner-Mongolian steppe

Liu

Zhang

Han

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The relationship between diversity and productivity of plant communities is an important issue in grassland restoration. However, the degree to which this relationship varies during the restoration stage after trampling disturbance is not clear. Here, we conducted a five-year study in a steppe after 4-year trampling to detect restoration patterns of plant community and investigate variation in diversity-productivity relationships. Our results showed that community cover, abundance, height, and productivity recovered quickly after the trampling disturbance ceased. However, the recovery of diversity was slower than biomass in the steppe. In addition, grass, annual, and biennial recovery was more rapidly than the recovery of forbs in the steppe. Moreover, following the restoration process, the positive correlation between productivity and diversity was decoupled, and a negative correlation between productivity and diversity developed. Our finding provides the key evidence for the asynchronous relation between productivity and diversity, and reveals that grass restored more rapidly than forbs in plant community restoration after disturbance. This study indicates that the trade-off between plant community structure and function can vary with the restoration process, and implicates that future modeling and experimental studies should focus on the different responses of productivity and diversity in plant community restoration.

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Recent advances in understanding grasslands

Cited by 14 publications

References 30 publications

A Typology of Nature-Based Solutions for Sustainable Development: An Analysis of Form, Function, Nomenclature, and Associated Applications

A Typology of Nature-Based Solutions for Sustainable Development: An Analysis of Form, Function, Nomenclature, and Associated Applications

Quantifying the Ecosystem Services of Soda Saline-Alkali Grasslands in Western Jilin Province, NE China

Relationships between plant community productivity and diversity vary with trampling disturbance in an Inner-Mongolian steppe

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