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I’ve decided to leave 2020, le tempes terrible, with a list of “ten things that make grasslands great.” Here is the content absolutely no one knew they needed:
Number 1: Grasslands are reliable carbon sinks. They don’t sequester as much carbon as forests, but can in some cases store it better in face of disasters…which are increasing — e.g. fires in CA. https://caes.ucdavis.edu/news/articles/2018/july/grasslands-more-reliable-carbon-sink-than-trees
2: Makes sense given perennials’ fabulous roots! I mean, look at these things! Grasslands tend to store more biomass underground than above—the opposite of forests. We don’t see most of the prairie.
3. Relatedly, grasslands can be wildly fecund. Some are among the most productive terrestrial ecosystems (supporting the most *abudnance of life*) in Earth history. Sergei Zimov of @PleistocenePark explains how this could be in his Wild Field Manifesto:
https://reviverestore.org/projects/woolly-mammoth/sergey-zimovs-manifesto/
https://reviverestore.org/projects/woolly-mammoth/sergey-zimovs-manifesto/
4: Something like 42% of our global calories come from a trio of domesticated grasses, namely corn, wheat, and rice. http://ricepedia.org/rice-as-food/the-global-staple-rice-consumers
5: Grasslands also supported and in many cases still support some of the largest known gatherings of wild creatures, by sheer weight. Bison are coming back to the U.S. prairie in droves these days.
https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/hope-and-peace-bison-return-to-the-rosebud-reservation/
https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/hope-and-peace-bison-return-to-the-rosebud-reservation/
6: This wildlife today often lives alongside pastoralists and ranchers. Livestock people of all kinds played a role in history that's only now being recognized; grass people now r full of good ideas on living in variable places/co-existing with wildlife. https://www.hcn.org/issues/47.21/why-being-a-good-neighbor-is-a-good-idea
7: Pastoralist or otherwise, the people you meet in grasslands in the U.S. and elsewhere tend to be really cool. Just as an indicator, in Mongolia the three national sports are horse racing, boxing, and archery.
8: Grasslands, especially the drier parts, challenge those who try to make them what they're not. Many feature a histroy of human-induced megadisaster; the Dust Bowl is only the most famous. This makes grasslands great places to learn humility. Also makes them punk rock.
9. "The entire evolution of our lineage has involved us living and working in or near grasslands" https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-06/teia-nsf060216.php
10. Grasslands are vast.
11. Sending heartfelt love to every single person this year, who made it through whatever you went through. My wish for you is that you get to visit a grassland in 2021.
