Natural History and Conservation

Washington, DC (December 2012) — When you think of grasslands, you probably imagine the Great Plains. But these are not America’s only grassland ecosystems, nor the biologically richest or most endangered. As eminent ecologist Reed Noss explores in his engaging new book, Forgotten Grasslands of the South: Natural History and Conservation, the Southeast has its own collection of imperiled grasslands full of rare species and intriguing ecological processes.

From the pine flatwoods and dry prairies of Florida to the blackland prairies of Mississippi, from the grassy balds of the Southern Appalachians to the cedar glades of central Tennessee, the southeastern grasslands form a broad group of unique ecosystems.

The southeastern grasslands have lost more territory than the Great Plains—and have more biodiversity to lose. Thanks to their long history and unique characteristics, these grasslands have some of the highest rates of endemic species and biodiversity in the country—on a small scale, some even surpass tropical rainforests.

But they have long gone unrecognized and undervalued. Mistakenly believed to be recently manmade ecosystems, many grasslands have been overtaken by development, forest incursions, or both. Noss argues that in order to save them, we must allow wildfires, floods, and large herbivores to shape ecosystems as they did for millennia before human interference.

Forgotten Grasslands of the South is not about just one type of imperiled ecosystem. Noss offers insights that can inform conservation priorities around the world. He believes that in recent decades, scientists and managers—including himself—have been so focused on large landscapes that the important conservation values of fragmented and urbanized places and naturally small ecosystems have been overlooked. He also believes that our current emphasis to ecosystem services is misplaced, as we try to quantify what cannot truly be quantified. He calls for a renewed respect for natural history in conservation, uniting an understanding of a place’s long past with a deep knowledge of the species that now call it home and the challenges they face.

Noss, who has spent years exploring and studying his beloved southern grasslands, is a clear-voiced ambassador of these critically threatened habitats. While he is dismayed by the indignities they have suffered, he knows it isn’t too late to save them. In elegant, beautiful prose, Noss opens our eyes to the beauty and complexity of these open places. He also outlines a way to move forward in their conservation and offers success stories of the places already being protected and restored.
 

Reed Noss is Provost’s Distinguished Research Professor at the University of Central Florida, former editor-in-chief of Conservation Biology, and past-president of the Society for Conservation Biology.