History
For historic grasslands, grazing animals, herbivores, were a crucial part of the ecosystem. When grazers are removed, historically grazed lands may show a decline in both the density and the diversity of the vegetation. The history of the land may help ecologists and conservationists determine the best approach to a conservation project.
Historic threats to grasslands primarily began with land conversion to crop fields. However, this threat shifted to improper land management techniques and more recently to the expansion of woody species of plants due to a lack of management, and to climate change. These threats hinder the ecological importance of grassland communities. Grasslands are a carbon sink, and benefit livestock. Ecologically, if managed properly, conservation grazing can help to restore these historic ecological assets. However, if the grazing levels reach too high, shrubs will persist over grassland.
In 1985, the US established the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which gave money to farmers to leave land fallow, instead of using it for crops or grazing. It was argued that exclusion or use of moderate grazing would be an important factor in future decisions as to what to do with the land that was a part of the CRP program. The land could have varied uses in the future. The minimization of the effects of climate change has a lot to do with the sequestering of carbon, and expansive grasslands may play an essential role in this process. But also it could be used for the rotation of crops to the benefit of wildlife populations.
Read more about this topic: Conservation Grazing
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Humankind has understood history as a series of battles because, to this day, it regards conflict as the central facet of life.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now.”
—Richard M. Nixon (b. 1913)
“Let us not underrate the value of a fact; it will one day flower in a truth. It is astonishing how few facts of importance are added in a century to the natural history of any animal. The natural history of man himself is still being gradually written.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)