16 - Applications of advanced technologies in studying and managing grassland landscape integrity

Summary

Introduction

Grasslands occupy large fractions of every continent except Antarctica (Knapp et al., 1998). In the United States, the Great Plains are generally divided into three regions: short-grass steppe in the west, mixed-grass in the center, and tallgrass prairie to the east (Reichman, 1987). The tallgrass prairie once stretched from central Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast and from eastern Kansas into Indiana. While large tracts of short- and mixed-grass grasslands still exist throughout the western Great Plains, it is estimated that 95.9% of the tallgrass prairie has been lost to agriculture. Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, North Dakota, and Wisconsin have lost 99.9% of their original tallgrass prairie (Samson and Knopf, 1994). The only extensive tract of tallgrass prairie that remains is the Flint Hills region of eastern Kansas, on the western, drier edge of the tallgrass prairie (Knapp et al., 1998) (Fig. 16.1).

Today, the tallgrass prairie is highly fragmented. Outside of the Flint Hills region, most prairies are remnants, often found in old cemeteries or railroad rights-of-way (Betz and Lamp, 1988). These prairies are often smaller than a hectare and usually isolated by tens of kilometers from the nearest remnant. The regional landscape of the tallgrass prairie region today is dominated by row-crop agriculture.

Grasslands provide multiple challenges to natural resource managers. Grasslands are often a complex mosaic of private, state, and federal land ownership. Land cover can consist of native or introduced (brome and fescue) species, small forests or woodlots, and agricultural crops. Land use can consist of grazing by livestock, row-cropping, and more recently residential development.