Grasslands and Climate Change
Grasslands and Climate Change
Jonathan A. Newman, University of Guelph, Ontario
$55.00
USDGrasslands are the most extensive terrestrial biome on Earth and are critically important for forage, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. This book brings together an international team of researchers to review scientific knowledge of the effects of climate change on world grasslands, a process we are only just starting to understand. Part I assesses how climate change will impact on the distribution of grasslands, as well as production, biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem services. Part II considers the consequences for the spread of invasive species, demographic change, trophic-level relationships, soil biota, and evolutionary change within grassland biodiversity. Part III proposes how ecologists can respond to climate change effects, focusing on grazing systems, cultural ecology, range management, and restoration. The concluding chapter sets grasslands in the context of the Anthropocene era and identifies the vital research and conservation needs for grassland ecosystems to remain environmentally sustainable under climate change.
- Brings together a wide-ranging, diverse, and international group of experts to interrogate how grassland ecology and climate change interact in the Anthropocene era
- Identifies vital research and conservation needs to ensure grassland ecosystems remain environmentally sustainable under climate change, and highlights how ecologists can contribute to climate change mitigation
- Summarising current knowledge, this book is for anyone working in grassland ecology, climate change and conservation, from graduate students and academics to researchers and managers
Reviews & endorsements
'Grasslands and Climate Change highlights the many uncertainties around changes we will witness. There are unknowns at every level, including how much greenhouse gas will be released, what climatic changes this creates, and how plants animals and humans will respond. None of these factors exist in isolation, and we need many more studies of the interactions between climate variables in order to make accurate predictions … This book points out … [that] there have been many botched policy decisions for traditional grassland, and these must be understood if climate related interventions are to succeed.' Rebecca Nesbit, The Biologist
'Gibson and Newman have done a great job in setting the scene in the introductory chapter, so that even those who are not ecologists or plant specialists can quickly and succinctly grasp the extent of grasslands, their importance especially to human health and wellbeing, and the likely threats from climate change before delving deeper in the following chapters.' Sarah Brotherton, The Holocene
‘… the book is a must-have for ecologists and conservationists working with open landscapes, especially grasslands.’ Szabolcs Lengyel, Conservation Biology
Product details
May 2019Hardback
9781107195264
376 pages
253 × 178 × 23 mm
0.93kg
46 b/w illus. 18 tables
Available
Table of Contents
- Introduction:
- 1. Grasslands and climate change: an overview David J. Gibson and Jonathan A. Newman
- 2. Methodology I: detecting and projecting grassland change from plots to the landscape Heather Hager and Jonathan A. Newman
- 3. Methodology II: remote sensing and modelling Geoffrey Henebry
- Part I. Grassland Dynamics and Climate Change:
- 4. Projected climate change in global grasslands Mike B. Jones
- 5. Production changes in response to climate change Lauchlan Fraser
- 6. Will climate change push grasslands past tipping points? Zak Ratajczak and Laura Ladwig
- 7. Biochemical cycling in grasslands under climate change Hugh Henry
- 8. Climate change effects on grassland ecosystem services Sandra Lavorel
- Part II. Species Traits, Functional Groups, and Evolutionary Change:
- 9. Grassland invasion in a changing climate Jane A. Catford and Lizzie P. Jones
- 10. How global change drives demography in grasslands Johan Ehlrén
- 11. Impacts of climate change on trophic interactions in grasslands Sue E. Hartley and Colin Beale
- 12. Grassland belowground feedbacks and climate change Richard D. Bardgett and Marina Semchenko
- 13. Keeping up: climate driven evolutionary change, dispersal, and migration Kathryn A. Yurkonis and William Harris
- 14. The future biogeography of C3 and C4 grasslands Elisabeth J. Forrestel and Erika J. Edwards
- Part III. Dealing with Climate Change Effects:
- 15. Altered grazing systems: pastoralism to conventional agriculture Phillip K. Thornton, Mario Herrero and Randall B. Boone
- 16. Climate change and the politics and science of traditional grassland management Michael R. Dove
- 17. Assessing rangeland health under climate variability and change John Bradford, Mike Duniway and Seth Munson
- 18. Restoring grassland in the context of climate change Sara G. Baer, David J. Gibson and Loretta C. Johnson
- 19. Grasslands in the Anthropocene: research and conservation needs David J. Gibson and Jonathan A. Newman
- Index.
