Grassland Conservation: Sustainability under Climate Change
A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Grassland and Pasture Science".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2023) | Viewed by 3773
Special Issue Editors
Interests: coenological investigations of grasslands; taxonomy of Poaceae species; grasslands management
Interests: landscape history; land-use history; archaeobotany (xylotomy, anthracotomy); historical vegetation; complex research of wood-pastures
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Climate change, including extreme climatic effects such as drying out and warming, is a huge challenge for grasslands, as some dominant species disappear, and other, disturbance-tolerant, invasive species increase their cover. At the same time, the botanical and economical roles of grasslands are changing constantly.
Grasslands constitute the largest biomass of the world, covering over 40% of the Earth’s terrestrial land surface. They harbour high biodiversity and offer a variety of ecosystem services and goods, such as pollination, carbon sequestration, food, and forage, and provide opportunities for tourism and recreation. Despite their importance in the sustainment of landscape-scale biodiversity, vast areas of grasslands have been lost due to conversion to croplands, agricultural intensification and overexploitation. In most agriculture-driven landscapes, grasslands correspond only to a few small fragments, which are isolated by intensively cultivated lands. Worldwide, grasslands and rangelands contribute to the livelihoods of more than two billion people and provide forage for nearly 600 sheep and goats and 360 million cattle. The conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable management of grasslands have become increasingly important tasks. It is essential to explore the various environmental factors that sustain healthy grassland communities, and understand the ecological mechanisms and functions that drive their biodiversity. Multifunctionality should be the foundation of every approach, from conservation management to agricultural purposes. Undergrazing is rarely discussed but is also undesirable, as wasted, good-quality forage is a valuable asset. Protecting species-rich grasslands is also important in order to save valuable traits and natural beauty. Proper management plans are needed as pasture-based quality meat and milk are of primary demand, alongside nature conservation efforts.
For this Special Issue, we seek case studies on the management, conservation and restoration of grasslands and rangelands all over the world, in order to provide reliable information for sustainable management and biodiversity conservation. Research, review and opinion papers are welcome, addressing solutions to daily problems from both an ecological and agronomical perspective. Studies on taxonomical, self-regulating, degrading phytocoenoses, alternative grazing methods, organic fertilizer application, arid pasture management and the monetisation of grass will fit within the scope.
Dr. Károly Penksza
Dr. Dénes Saláta
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- grasslands management
- grass species
- invasion
- adaptation
- restoration
