Routledge Handbook of Grasslands

Routledge Handbook of Grasslands represents a definitive state of the art overview of grasslands from multiple, interdisciplinary and global perspectives. Despite the real and intrinsic values that grasslands offer, they are globally subject to fragmentation, habitat and species loss, and they are increasingly threatened by climate change. From a human societal perspective, grasslands are central to much of our culture and represent areas where agriculture first arose.

The Routledge Handbook of Grasslands brings together an interdisciplinary team of global authors to present a much needed and vitally important overview of the new and ongoing debates around the values of and threats to grasslands. Reflecting the broad range of issues, debates and threats, the handbook is divided into five parts:

• Part I: Deep Roots, Dynamic Futures: Understanding the Science of Grasslands
• Part II: Living Complexity: Grassland Function, Biodiversity, and Renewal
• Part III: Working Landscapes: Innovation and Tradition in Grassland Stewardship
• Part IV: Social-Ecological Ties: Grassland Services, Justice, and Governance
• Part V: Landscapes of Meaning: Cultural and Creative Perspectives on Grasslands

Drawing on the experience of researchers, practitioners and managers, the handbook is the only grassland-oriented text to include social, economic, policy, and cultural value dimensions of grasslands, as well as an up-to-date coverage of the agronomy and ecology of these environments.

The handbook concludes with a forward-thinking chapter which discusses the future of grasslands, further directions, threats and innovations. The Routledge Handbook of Grasslands is essential reading for students and scholars of grassland ecology, management and conservation as well as policy and management practitioners involved in grassland management and governance, as well as natural resources more broadly.

Table of Contents

1. Grasslands at the crossroads: integrating science, culture, and sustainability – Jonathan A. Newman, David J. Gibson and Heather A. Hager

PART I Deep roots, dynamic futures: understanding the science of grasslands

2. Rise of the grasslands: evolution, fire and mammalian giants – Mahesh Sankaran, Mayank Kohli and William J. Bond

3. Grasslands at scale: mapping extent, diversity, and the price of neglect – David J. Gibson and Saroj Thapa

4. Soil symphony: how grassland nutrients flow, store carbon, and enhance ecosystem services – Ellen Fry, Johannes Heinze, Nadia Maaroufi and Jonathan De Long

5. Predicting pasture prospects: climate scenarios and carbon futures for global grasslands – Chengcheng Gang, Meng-en Fan, Huan-huan Liu and Yue Liu

PART II. Living complexity: grassland function, biodiversity, and renewal

6. Physiological and anatomical traits of grass species: diversification facilitates persistence in grassy ecosystems – Jesse B. Nippert and Brent R. Helliker

7. Adaptive alleles on the prairie: genomic insights for a warming world – Jack Sytsma, Matthew Galliart, David J. Gibson, Eli Hartung, Brian Maricle and Loretta Johnson

8. Filters, pools, and fire: decoding how grassland communities form – Jodi N. Price

9. Endophytes unveiled: microbial keys to grassland resilience and productivity – Jonathan A. Newman and Heather A. Hager

10. From fragments to function: habitat quality, size, and connectivity for grassland invertebrates – Thomas Fartmann, Tim R. New and Michael J. Samways

11. Giants of the grass: how large herbivores sculpt savannas and prairies – Mayank Kohli and Mahesh Sankaran

12. Ecosystems on the edge: unraveling compositional, structural, and functional loss in grasslands – Anaclara Guido and Felícia M. Fischer

13. Hooves on a gradient: livestock, moisture and ecosystem changes – Felipe Lezama, Pedro Pañella, Andrea Tomassino and José M. Paruelo

14. Adapt or perish: trait-based tales from turbulent grasslands – Kyle W. Tomlinson and Sally Archibald

15. Switching states: how climate change flips the grass-woody balance – William J. Bond and Nicola Stevens

16. Cross-border colonists: How naturalised species reshape prairies, Pampas, and savannas – Wayne Dawson, Dana Blumenthal, Jan Čuda, Richard P. Duncan, Danielle Frohlich, Martin Hejda, Yanjie Liu, Ana Novoa, Ayub M.O. Oduor, Jan Pergl, Pavel Pipek, Vânia R Pivello, Petr Pyšek, David M. Richardson, Kateřina Štajerová, SynHab contributors, and Alessandra Kortz

17. Beyond fences: balancing food, fire, and biodiversity in grassland conservation – Gerhard E. Overbeck

18. Grassland restoration: understanding the past to change the future – Fernando A.O. Silveira, Natália Medeiros, Paul Gibson-Roy and Elise Buisson

19. Rewilding the range: trophic restoration for resilient grasslands – Robert Buitenwerf

PART III. Working landscapes: innovation and tradition in grassland stewardship

20. Pasture perfect: designing grasses for yield, quality, and carbon capture – John R. Caradus, Alan V. Stewart, E. Charles Brummer and Carlos A. Acuña

21. Cultivating resilience: grassland agronomy in a changing climate – Jonathan A. Newman

22. Conflict and coexistence: untangling the socio-ecology of human–wildlife interactions in rangelands – Kaitlyn M. Gaynor and Gopal Khanal

23. Ancestral stewardship: indigenous knowledge shaping Africa’s grasslands – Jenesio I. Kinyamario, Dennis O. Otieno and James I. Kanya

24. Meet me in the meadow: how spatial ecology drives natural pest regulation – Vincent Bretagnolle, Thomas Perrot, Ambroise Leroy and Sabrina Gaba

25. Rangeland vital signs: evaluating health and productivity – Jonathan A. Newman

26. From drones to digital twins: high-tech eyes on grassland change – Irini Soubry, Xiaolei Yu, Thiago Frank and Xulin Guo

PART IV. Social-ecological ties: grassland services, justice, and governance

27. Hectares and hidden wealth: valuing provisioning, cultural, and regulating services – Lingling Hou, Huifang Liu, Nannan Kang and Na Liu

28. Pastures in parallel: how management and nature co-create grassland value – Brianne A. Altmann, Antje Risius and Elsa Varela

29. Fields of uncertainty: charting climate-smart futures for global grasslands – Rebecca Cunningham

30. Breaking the grassland glass ceiling: women ranchers and sustainable development – Gabriela Litre, Alessendra Matte, Virginia Courdin and Claudio Marques Ribeiro

31. From fields to frameworks: crafting effective grassland policies – Johannes Wegmann, Katrin Agethen and Nina Graßnick

Part V. Landscapes of meaning: cultural and creative perspectives on grasslands

32. Beyond grazing: pastoralism’s role in culture, economy, and ecology – Abolfazl Sharifían, Hossein Barani and Pablo Manzano

33. “I felt that the grass was the country”: a literary history of grasslands – Molly P. Rozum

34. Prairie perspectives: eco-revelatory art and grassland narratives – Katie Kingery-Page and Erin Wiersma

35. Sacred spaces: exploring the cultural and spiritual heart of grasslands – Bas Verschuuren

Conclusion

36. Saving our shared heritage: priorities for grassland conservation and management – David J. Gibson, Jonathan A. Newman and Heather A. Hager