Grassland ecosystems are deeply affected by human activities and need appropriate management to optimise trade-offs between ecosystem functions and services. Until now they have mainly been analysed as agro-ecosystems for animal production but this book looks beyond the role of grassland as a feeding ground, and evaluates other important processes such as carbon sequestration in soils, greenhouse gas regulation and biodiversity protection. This authoritative volume expertly highlights the need f...
The View from Bald Hill (Organisms and Environments, #1)
by Carl E Bock and Jane H Bock
In 1540 Francisco Vasquez de Coronado introduced the first domestic livestock to the American Southwest. Over the subsequent four centuries cattle, horses, and sheep have created a massive ecological experiment on these arid grasslands, changing them in ways we can never know with certainty. The Appleton-Whittell Research Ranch in the high desert of southeastern Arizona is an 8000-acre sanctuary where grazing has been banned since 1968. In this account of 30 years of research at the ranch, Carl...
The Grasslands of the United States (Nature and Human Societies)
by James E Sherow
This unique survey of the environmental history of the grasslands in the United States explores the ecological, social, and economic networks enmeshing humans in this biome over the last 10,000 years. "Treeless, level, and semi-arid." Walter Prescott Webb's famous description of the Great Plains is really only part of their story. From their creation at the end of the Ice Age to the ongoing problems of depopulation, soil erosion, polluted streams, and depleted groundwater aquifers, human intera...
Grasslands are one of California's most important ecosystems in terms of both biodiversity and economic value. Bringing together the large amount of research conducted in recent years on California's grasslands, this comprehensive, state-of-the-art sourcebook addresses the pressing need to understand this unique habitat. Providing an authoritative summary of current grassland science and management, leading scholars examine the history of grasslands from the Pleistocene through European settleme...
Culture, Ecology and Economy of Fire Management in North Australian Savannas
by Jeremy Russell-Smith, Peter Whitehead, and Peter Cooke
This engaging volume explores the management of fire in one of the world's most flammable landscapes: Australia's tropical savannas, where on average 18% of the landscape is burned annually. Impacts have been particularly severe in the Arnhem Land Plateau, a centre of plant and animal diversity on Indigenous land. Culture, Ecology and Economy of Fire Management in North Australian Savannas documents a remarkable collaboration between Arnhem Land's traditional landowners and the scientific commun...