Global plight of native temperate grasslands: going, going, gone?
Open accessAbstract
The indelible imprint of humanity is credited for the major degradation of natural systems worldwide. Nowhere are the transforming qualities of mankind more apparent than in the native temperate grassland regions of the world. Formerly occupying some 9 million km², or 8% of the planet’s terrestrial surface, native temperate grasslands have been reduced to vestiges of their former glory. Only 4.6% are conserved globally within protected areas—a testament to being the least protected and the most extensively transformed of the world’s terrestrial biomes. The aim of this paper is to continue promoting the conservation value of native temperate grasslands, and reiterate the need for further protection and sustainable management before further losses and inadequate protection undermine ecological integrity any further. A new strategic direction is presented for the next decade, underpinned by ten key focus areas. The most realistic opportunities to improve protection lie in central, eastern and western Asia where landscape-scale tracts of native temperate grassland remain in reasonable condition. Such a course necessitates a strong reliance on integrating sustainable use and conservation by promoting concepts such as Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas as legitimate and recognized forms of protected areas. Here the conservation value of working rangeland landscapes utilised by nomadic pastoralists comes to the fore. The naive and short-sighted approach to viewing native tempe…
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Key human drivers of grassland and savannah degradation include expansion of cropped areas or conversion to intensive pasture systems, reduced livestock mobility and overgrazing, and fuelwood extraction in savannahs.
“The key human drivers of grassland and savannah degradation include expansion of cropped areas or conversion to intensive pasture systems (Section 2.3) (27), reduced livestock mobility and overgrazing, and-in savannahs-fuelwood extraction (4,31).”
From Restoring Degraded Lands (2021) · cites this paper as [27]
Less than 5% of global temperate grasslands are protected.
“Less than 5% of global temperate grasslands are protected (27).”
From Restoring Degraded Lands (2021) · cites this paper as [27]
Natural temperate grasslands are now reduced to a fraction of their original area and are considered one of the most endangered biomes.
“natural temperate grasslands are now reduced to a fraction of their original area and are considered one of the most endangered biomes in the world (27,28).”
From Restoring Degraded Lands (2021) · cites this paper as [27]
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Recent land use change in the Western Corn Belt threatens grasslands and wetlands
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Arneth, A., Olsson, L., Cowie, A., Erb, K.-H., Hurlbert, M., Kurz, W. A., Mirzabaev, A., & Rounsevell, M. D. A. (2021) · Annual Review of Environment and Resources · doi:10.1146/annurev-environ-012320-054809 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
“Sustainable land management (SLM): the stewardship and use of land resources to meet changing human needs, while simultaneously ensuring the longterm productive potential of these resources and the maintenance of their environmental functions 8% of the land surface, natural temperate grasslands are now reduced to a fr…”
Background
- Authors
- Carbutt, C., Henwood, W. D., & Gilfedder, L. A.
- Affiliations
- Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife (ZA)
- IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (CH)
- University of Tasmania (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Carbutt, Clinton
- Venue
- Biodiversity and Conservation
- Published
- 2017-07-07
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 2911-2932
- ISSN
- 0960-3115 (ISSN-L)
- 1572-9710
- OpenAlex
- W2727388543
- Cited by
- 123
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 4
- FWCI
- 13.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- figshare.com
- Licence
- Locations
- Biodiversity and Conservation (publishedVersion)
- eCite Digital Repository (University of Tasmania) (submittedVersion)
- UTAS Research Repository (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Land Use and Ecosystem Services
- Keywords
- grassland degradation, grassland conservation, protected areas, Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas, sustainable rangeland management, nomadic pastoralism, working landscapes, conservation strategies, Asia, ecosystem services
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