Sparing grasslands: FAO's active role

Rojas-Briales, Eduardo

doi:10.1126/science.347.6227.1211

Cited by 11 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…It recently flared up into a controversy involving a misunderstanding between scientists and forest management practitioners about "grasslands". The misunderstanding followed the publication by the World Resource Institute (WRI) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) of a "forest restoration" map indicating both deforested lands and grassy biomes such as grasslands, savannas and open woodlands as suitable candidate areas for replantation projects, which grassybiome ecologists labelled a "tyranny of trees" (Veldman et al, 2015a, b;Laestadius et al, 2015;Rojas-Briales, 2015;Bond, 2016). So definition is an ever-pressing concern in a global(izing) context, but the conflation between the data generated to describe forest change and data used to prescribe policies that address forest change is problematic.…”

Section: Definitions Values and Boundariesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction: The trouble with forest: definitions, values and boundaries

Côte¹,

Wartmann²,

Purves³

2018

Geogr. Helv.

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Abstract. Forest is in trouble. The most recent (2015) FAO Forest Resources Assessment shows an encouraging trend towards a decrease in deforestation rates, but it also points out that since 1990 total forest loss corresponds to an area the size of South Africa. Efforts to curtail deforestation require reliable assessments, yet current definitions for what a forest exactly is differ significantly across countries, institutions and epistemic communities. Those differences have implications for forest management efforts: they entail different understandings about where exactly a forest starts and ends, and therefore also engender misunderstandings about where a forest should start and end, and about how forests should be managed. This special issue brings together different perspectives from practitioners and academic disciplines – including linguistics, geographic information science and human geography – around the problem of understanding and characterizing forest. By bringing together different disciplinary viewpoints, we hope to contribute to ongoing interdisciplinary efforts to analyse forest change. In this introduction, we propose that interrogating the relationship between forest definitions, boundaries and ways of valuing forests constitutes a productive way to critically conceptualize the trouble that forest is in.

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Section: Definitions Values and Boundariesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction: The trouble with forest: definitions, values and boundaries

Côte¹,

Wartmann²,

Purves³

2018

Geogr. Helv.

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“…Sometimes trees are the best alternative for an adaptation or sustainability strategy. Other times, other land-use types, such as grasslands and rangelands, could bear those functions more appropriately (Rojas-Briales, 2015). Warnings have been raised that drylands could be inappropriate ecosystems for tree cover overexpansion due to the risks of biodiversity loss, water overconsumption and fire (Fagan, 2020).…”

Section: Managing Trees In Drylands: Deforestation Afforestation and ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Grazing with trees

2022

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The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Dashed lines on maps represent approximate border lines for which there may not yet be full agreement. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned.The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of FAO.

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“…This definition includes vegetation covers with an abundance of non-woody plants and thus lumps together some savannas, woodlands, shrublands, and tundra, as well as more conventional grasslands" (White et al, 2000), making grasslands one of the most widespread biomes worldwide. Grasslands cover approximately 26% of the terrestrial area (Obermeier et al 2016) and occur nearly on all continents except Antarctica (Rojas-Briales, 2015). Grasslands are most commonly found in arid and semi-arid zones (47% of the world's grasslands), followed by humid (23%), and cold 20%regions (White et al, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Grasslands encompass, for examples, the savannas of Africa and Australia, the cerrado and campo of South America, the prairies of North America, and the steppes of Central Asia (Kemp and Michalk 2007). They cover about 117 million km 2 of vegetated lands, and provide forage for more than 1800 million livestock units and wildlife populations (Kemp and Michalk, 2007;Rojas-Briales, 2015). These vast areas of lands support over 800 million of human populations with abundant natural resources for the production of food, fuel, fiber and medicine (Kemp and Michalk, 2007;Rojas-Briales, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They cover about 117 million km 2 of vegetated lands, and provide forage for more than 1800 million livestock units and wildlife populations (Kemp and Michalk, 2007;Rojas-Briales, 2015). These vast areas of lands support over 800 million of human populations with abundant natural resources for the production of food, fuel, fiber and medicine (Kemp and Michalk, 2007;Rojas-Briales, 2015). By integrating the International Vegetation Classification (IVC) with the map of terrestrial eco-regions of the world, Dixon et al (2014) classified the following nine grassland types: (1) Alpine scrub, forb meadow and grassland; (2) boreal grassland, meadow and shrubland; (3) tropical montane shrubland, grassland and savanna; (4) tropical freshwater marsh, wet meadow and shrubland; (5) tropical lowland shrubland, grassland and savanna; (6) Mediterranean scrub, grassland and forb meadow; (7) temperate grassland, meadow and shrubland; (8) cool semi-desert scrub and grassland; and (9) warm semi-desert scrub and grassland (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Soil phosphorus budget in global grasslands and implications for management

Zhou

Daryanto

Xin

et al. 2017

Journal of Arid Environments

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Grasslands, accounting for one third of the world terrestrial land surface, are important in determining phosphorus (P) cycle at a global scale. Understanding the impacts of management on P inputs and outputs in grassland ecosystem is crucial in environmental management since a large amount of P is transported through rivers and groundwater and detained by sea reservoir every year. To better understand the P cycle in global grasslands, we mapped the distribution of different grassland types around the world and calculated the corresponding P inputs and outputs for each grassland type using data from the literature. The distribution map of P input and output revealed a nonequilibrium condition in many grassland ecosystems, with: (i) a greater extent of inputs than outputs in most managed grasslands, but (ii) a more similar inputs and outputs in the majority of natural grasslands. Based on the mass balance between P input and output, we developed a framework to achieve sustainable P management in grasslands and discussed the measures targeting a more balanced P budget. Greater challenge is usually found in heavily-managed than natural grasslands to establish the optimum amount of P for grass and livestock production while minimizing the adverse impacts on surface waters. This study provided a comprehensive assessment of P budget in global grasslands and such information will be critical in determining the appropriate P management measures for various grassland types across the globe.

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Sparing grasslands: FAO's active role

Abstract: LETTERSOchre star losing its second arm to wasting disease.

Cited by 11 publications

References 1 publication

Introduction: The trouble with forest: definitions, values and boundaries

Introduction: The trouble with forest: definitions, values and boundaries

Grazing with trees

Soil phosphorus budget in global grasslands and implications for management

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