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Seventy questions of importance to the conservation of the North Central grasslands of the United States in a changing climate

Published Article

United States

Publication date: August 10, 2023

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This study synthesizes 70 priority questions essential for conserving the North Central grasslands of the United States amid climate change. Covering Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas, it provides a shared research agenda to guide agencies, tribes, NGOs, and land managers in protecting these threatened ecosystems.

Subject Tags

  • Climate adaptation
  • Ecosystem management
  • Invasive Species

Abstract

Successful conservation of ecosystems in a changing climate requires actionable research that directly supports the rethinking and revising of management approaches to address changing risks and opportunities. As an important first step toward actionable research, we reviewed and synthesized grassland management-related documents to identify broadly shared questions that, if answered, would help to support collective conservation of the grasslands in the northern Great Plains of the United States in a changing climate. A Management Priorities Working Group reviewed 183 grassland-relevant management documents and identified 70 questions. Feedback was iteratively provided by a Climate and Ecology Working Group, an Advisory Committee, and representatives from grassland management agencies and organizations. The identified questions generally fall under 15 topics: land conversion; restoration; disturbance regimes; woody encroachment; herbaceous invasives; grazing; water quality, quantity, and availability; animal species; private land; public understanding; legal and policy changes; economic incentives; coordination across management entities; accessibility of science and tools; and novel ways of thinking. These questions can inform a research agenda for researchers looking to conduct actionable science in the Great Plains grassland ecosystems. Both the approach and the questions presented here can also be adapted and applied in other regions and ecosystems.

Citations

Miller Hesed, C. D., Yocum, H. M., Cross, M., Bamzai‐Dodson, A., Wheeler, B., Beckmann, J. P., ... & Jaffe, S. (2023). Seventy questions of importance to the conservation of the North Central grasslands of the United States in a changing climate. Conservation Science and Practice, 5(9), e12998.

https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12998

TNC Authors