Science needs of southeastern grassland species of conservation concern: A framework for species status assessments

Abstract

Science Needs of Southeastern Grassland Species of Conservation Concern: Species Status Assessment Framework extinctions, and human attitudes and behaviors; (4) invasive species (not limited to nonnative species); and (5) localized or subregional impacts such as sea-level rise. In addition to group discussions, workshop participants-as well as other grassland experts who were unable to attend the workshopcompleted a preworkshop survey concerning challenges and opportunities for grassland conservation. Findings reported here under each of these topics represent ideas, problems, hypotheses, and questions identified by a diverse community of grassland managers and researchers which may be addressed by future research and monitoring in southeastern grassland ecosystems to help guide science-based conservation of grassland-dependent species. Figure 1. Summed range-size rarity of imperiled species from the Map of Biodiversity Importance (NatureServe , 2021). This map was developed from habitat suitability models for 2,216 species ranked as critically imperiled (G1), imperiled (G2), or listed as endangered or threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Taxa include vertebrates, vascular plants, selected aquatic invertebrates (mussels and crayfish), and selected pollinators (bumblebees, butterflies, and skippers). High values identify areas with greater numbers of imperiled species with restricted ranges. Details on the habitat models used to produce this map are available from NatureServe (2021). HerbivoryLarge herbivores are second only to fire as a dominant factor maintaining large areas of grassland worldwide. Grazing and browsing by a succession of large herbivores during and since the Pleistocene is the most plausible explanation for the persistence of high-elevation grassy balds in the southern Appalachians (Weigl and Knowles, 2014). Elsewhere,

Improving species status assessments under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and implications for multispecies conservation challenges worldwide

“…Finally, the workgroups considered information needs associated with localized or subregional impacts, such as sea‐level rise, as well as other issues, sometimes species specific, that did not easily fit within the above threat categories. Because these issues are, by definition, specific to particular places, their level of general interest is lower than the 4 categories addressed above, so we do not summarize them here (but see Noss et al., 2021 ).…”

“…and circulated as a detailed outline prior to the workshop, as well as literature‐based information presented by plenary speakers. Participants were then asked to use their knowledge, expertise, and additional literature to revise and expand the outline into the basis of a USGS report (Noss et al., 2021 ). Three sections of the outline were drawn primarily from literature synthesis and were only slightly revised by the workshop process: an introduction, overview of an ecosystem‐based approach to SSAs, and a summary of threats to grassland ecosystems.…”

“…Toward the end of the workshop, table hosts presented summaries of these notes to the entire body of workshop participants for additional comments and clarification, and then submitted their final notes to R.N. These 5 documents (finalized notes from each table host) were used to revise the outline for the USGS report (Noss et al., 2021 ) to encompass the full range of participants’ opinions, concerns, and desires concerning science needs for southeastern grassland conservation. Thus, the World Café approach provided a valuable complement to the literature synthesis by capturing grassland managers’ on‐the‐ground experiences, observations, and priorities, a necessary component of any translational ecology approach (Enquist et al., 2017 ).…”

“…The western boundary is defined by EPA level III and level IV ecoregions to include those ecoregions with a dominant southeastern floristic affinity as opposed to a Great Plains, Tallgrass Prairie, or Madrean affinity. Figure reprinted with permission fromNoss et al (2021)…”

Revision of Gymnoscirtetes (Orthoptera, Acrididae, Melanoplinae): a genus endemic to the grasslands of the southeastern North American Coastal Plain

“…The North American Coastal Plain was recently designated as the world’s 36 th global biodiversity hotspot based on the high levels of biodiversity and endemism of vascular plants and habitat loss greater than 70% in the region ( Noss 2016 ). A disproportionate amount of this biodiversity is found in the imperiled grasslands of the region, though they have historically received much less attention from conservation and natural resource agencies than forests and wetlands in the region ( Noss 2013 ; Noss et al 2015 , 2021 ; Hill and Barone 2018 ). As functionally dominant herbivores in temperate grassland systems, it stands to reason that grasshopper diversity and endemism would also be high in the region.…”