Woodland expansion is a highly debated topic documented on numerous continents threatening grassland and savanna ecosystems. The Great Plains in USA contains several land cover types such as croplands, deciduous forests, shrublands and is expanding in energy development while the grasslands within the region are climatically suitable for woodland expansion. Processes such as fire can reduce woody cover and restrict woodland expansion. However, highly fragmented landscapes restrict natural processes such as fire. We sought to better understand woody plant dynamics within the fragmented grasslands of the Great Plains, USA to improve the global understanding of woodland expansion. This talk synthesizes the culmination of several studies highlighting how % woody cover potential is driven by climate but can be restricted by fire activity, which in turn is affected by landscape fragmentation. To this end, we present a novel approach to predict woody cover at landscape levels, which can be used as an early detection system for future woodland expansion.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.