How Management Decisions Might Improve the Resilience of Prairies Under Winter Climate Change

The prairie grasslands of the Midwest and Great Plains provide important habitat for a wide variety of plants and animals, clean drinking water, and space for outdoor recreation and have experienced an over 99% loss of prairie grasslands due to a variety of factors including climate change. Land managers that are working to restore prairie grasslands would like to make them resilient to a shifting climate. However, they have limited information about how to plan these restorations with climate adaptation in mind In the Midwest and throughout much of North America, the effects of climate change are more pronounced and rapid in winter than in other seasons. Winters generally have less snow leaving plants more exposed and vulnerable to [...]