Having been around agriculture for most of my life, I consider myself quite well informed. Still, I learned a lot from Sea Of Grass, by Dave Hage and Josephine Marcotty. It's new book, published this year. This comprehensive study of the American prairie isn't all bad news. The subtitle of the book, The CONQUEST, RUIN, and REDEMTION (emphasis mine) of NATURE on the AMERICAN PRAIRIE, gives a clue that there is also good news about restoration.
"Plants, microbes, and animals together made the grasslands one of the richest ecosystems on Earth, and a massive carbon sink,..." Flyleaf. Grasses are interesting for a number of reasons such as 80% of their biomass is underground. Fire is their friend burning off the thatch that inhibits seedlings and removes woody competitors such as cedar trees. When Europeans arrived grass covered one fifth of America. "The Montana writer Richard Manning estimated that these native grasslands were so productive before Europeans arrived that they produced more protein, in the form of bison, than the American cattle industry does to today on the same land." P. 14
Few of us want to read only bad news. While there is much bad news about the prairie significant efforts are being made for restoration. Much has been written about nitrates polluting drinking water and the Mississippi River. Significant energy is going into ameliorating that issue. Bison are being returned in significant numbers to grassland. Successful organizing is occurring among farmers for more sustainable agriculture. These are a few examples of "redemptions".
Highly recommended!
Takk for alt,
Al
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