We may not be able to prevent woody plants from becoming a larger component of Great Plains grasslands. An ecological transformation has already happened in many parts of the southern Plains and a similar transition is underway in many other places. Given our inability to control most of the major drivers of this woody transition, it’s time to stop putting all our energy into stopping the changes and start thinking about how to guide and adapt to them.
First, we need to understand the full implications of a conversion from grasslands to shrublands or, at least, shrubby grasslands. What species and ecological communities will thrive under these new conditions? How will the changes affect people, economically, emotionally, and otherwise. How will those people react in a woodier environment and what are the ramifications for land use changes and the resulting impacts on biodiversity?
For some of these questions, we can look to landscapes in places like Texas and Oklahoma, where the transition has already happened, but we also need to invest in research where the conversion is underway or inevitable. What are the land stewardship options available to us? When should we focus on blocking or slowing woody encroachment and when should we try to manage habitat structure and composition? When we can’t prevent woody encroachment, how can we manage it to optimize species diversity and ecological resilience?
A woodier landscape still provides a lot of opportunities to manage for biological diversity and ecological resilience. We can manage height, density, cover, and other aspects of woody plant populations, but we need to learn how those habitat attributes affect individual species, species diversity, and ecological processes. Research will be crucial in the coming years, but we also need land managers to experiment, learn, and adapt – and to share what they’re learning with each other.
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