TITLE:
Long Term Effect of Major Disturbances on the Northern Mixed Grassland Ecosystem—A Review
AUTHORS:
Meng Li, Xulin Guo
KEYWORDS:
Grassland Ecosystem; Disturbances; Grazing; Fire; Drought
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Ecology,
Vol.4 No.4,
March
28,
2014
ABSTRACT: Grassland ecosystems in North America have been significantly altered
through various disturbances from past to present. This paper has identified
and examined major disturbances in the grassland ecosystems, which include
grazing, fire and drought. A brief history of each disturbance is reviewed and
its impact on the grassland ecosystem is discussed, by synthesizing previous research
efforts available in the current literature. The paper intends to understand
the grassland ecosystem from a comprehensive perspective and particularly tries
to articulate the compound effect of the major disturbances in the same context
instead of viewing them in isolations. It is concluded that a holistic
understanding of the interaction between disturbances and plant communities is
essential for sustainable grassland management, which demands comprehensive research
effort in this area. The paper also points out the challenges we are facing in
the current researches and suggests potential future improvement.