Extensive and successfully protected areas in grasslands are rare. As a result,
governance of natural grasslands requires the integration of both local and regional
scales for effective conservation and sustainable use, and is impossible without a
mutually beneficial public-private partnership. Although governments might not be
able to directly manage large tracts of land, they should consider substantially
investing into research and education that will enable a better understanding of
these grasslands as social-ecological systems, with the policy approach that will
enable best practice stewardship while promoting and encouraging utilization that
benefits local livelihoods and economies. Endangered grassland endemics make
charismatic flagship species for grassland conservation. Perhaps the best known
are the Bison for the Prairies, the Rhea for the Brazilian Cerrado, the Black
Wildebeest for the South African Highveld, and the Great Bustard for the Asian
steppes. The re-introduction of former wild ungulates and antelope can be very
effective ecologically and economically, as has been shown in North America,
Europe and southern Africa.
5.2.5 Heaths and Shrublands
The importance of heath, scrub, savanna, hedges, spatial transition zones and
succession stages with woody plants of intermediate height for maintaining biodiversity is often underestimated. Compared to other ecosystem types, such as forest or
freshwater ecosystems, heaths and shrublands are relatively less emphasised in the
ecological research arena.
These habitats cover a small proportion of the terrestrial land compared to forest,
grassland, and other biomes, and include e.g. large parts of the highly endemic-rich
sclerophyllous Mediterranean-type (winter rainfall) ecosystems, variously named
chaparral, fynbos, garrigue, kwongan, mallee, maquis, matorral, macchia,
renosterveld, etc. scattered around the world. The shrublands and savannas of the
Cerrado, Brazil, and semi-deserts in other regions are diverse as well. These habitats
are rich in species, and are particularly rich in local endemics. Smaller forms of
heaths and shrublands are embedded in other vegetation types, notably in montane
and temperate systems where they form local communities, e.g. Ericaceae-dominated vegetation in alpine zones.
In many regions fire is a dominant ecological driver, with complex successional
processes that span annual to more than 30-year cycles.
Heaths and shrublands are most vulnerable to degradation through land transformation from agriculture and urbanization, notably in Mediterranean-climate regions
and savannas with summer rain, where there are expanding urban centres and
associated local species extinctions. These ecosystems are especially vulnerable to
impacts from invasive species, notably invasive grasses and woody species: such
invasives can be extremely difficult to manage in rugged terrain covered in thick
sclerophyllous vegetation. Woody invasive species also alter fire dynamics in a
manner that are detrimental to indigenous seed banks as well as to human wellbeing and infrastructure. Ecological compromise can also occur from inappropriate
Land Use Change and the Future of Biodiversity
475
governance of natural grasslands requires the integration of both local and regional
scales for effective conservation and sustainable use, and is impossible without a
mutually beneficial public-private partnership. Although governments might not be
able to directly manage large tracts of land, they should consider substantially
investing into research and education that will enable a better understanding of
these grasslands as social-ecological systems, with the policy approach that will
enable best practice stewardship while promoting and encouraging utilization that
benefits local livelihoods and economies. Endangered grassland endemics make
charismatic flagship species for grassland conservation. Perhaps the best known
are the Bison for the Prairies, the Rhea for the Brazilian Cerrado, the Black
Wildebeest for the South African Highveld, and the Great Bustard for the Asian
steppes. The re-introduction of former wild ungulates and antelope can be very
effective ecologically and economically, as has been shown in North America,
Europe and southern Africa.
5.2.5 Heaths and Shrublands
The importance of heath, scrub, savanna, hedges, spatial transition zones and
succession stages with woody plants of intermediate height for maintaining biodiversity is often underestimated. Compared to other ecosystem types, such as forest or
freshwater ecosystems, heaths and shrublands are relatively less emphasised in the
ecological research arena.
These habitats cover a small proportion of the terrestrial land compared to forest,
grassland, and other biomes, and include e.g. large parts of the highly endemic-rich
sclerophyllous Mediterranean-type (winter rainfall) ecosystems, variously named
chaparral, fynbos, garrigue, kwongan, mallee, maquis, matorral, macchia,
renosterveld, etc. scattered around the world. The shrublands and savannas of the
Cerrado, Brazil, and semi-deserts in other regions are diverse as well. These habitats
are rich in species, and are particularly rich in local endemics. Smaller forms of
heaths and shrublands are embedded in other vegetation types, notably in montane
and temperate systems where they form local communities, e.g. Ericaceae-dominated vegetation in alpine zones.
In many regions fire is a dominant ecological driver, with complex successional
processes that span annual to more than 30-year cycles.
Heaths and shrublands are most vulnerable to degradation through land transformation from agriculture and urbanization, notably in Mediterranean-climate regions
and savannas with summer rain, where there are expanding urban centres and
associated local species extinctions. These ecosystems are especially vulnerable to
impacts from invasive species, notably invasive grasses and woody species: such
invasives can be extremely difficult to manage in rugged terrain covered in thick
sclerophyllous vegetation. Woody invasive species also alter fire dynamics in a
manner that are detrimental to indigenous seed banks as well as to human wellbeing and infrastructure. Ecological compromise can also occur from inappropriate
Land Use Change and the Future of Biodiversity
475