Woody plant encroachment and invasion of rangelands

Rangelands are native ecosystems maintained with fire and grazing. When fire is withheld from rangeland systems, woody plants increase, causing degradation and a loss of rangeland benefits.  

• Herbaceous Production Lost to Tree Encroachment in United States Rangelands
• Ecosystem Carbon Losses With Woody Plant Invasion of Grasslands
• Rangeland Production Lost to Woody Encroachment in Great Plains Grasslands
• Remove, Reduce, or Manipulate? Best Practices for Brush Management Conservation Standards in Great Plains Grasslands
• Integrated Pest Management for Woody Encroachment
• Reducing Woody Encroachment in Grasslands: A Guide for Understanding Risk and Vulnerability
• Reducing Woody Encroachment in Grasslands: A Pocket Guide for Planning and Design
• Habitat First- Rangeland Management
• Habitat First- Deer and Trees
• Managing Native Grasslands for Wildlife
• Prairie Climate Companion-Woody Encroachment
• Seventy Questions of Importance to the Conservation of the North Central Grasslands of the United States in a Changing Climate
• The Central Grasslands: Backbone of North American: Irreplaceable
• Communicating effectively about woody plant encroachment

 

Accidental or deliberate introduction of trees into rangelands, such as with misguided tree planing strategies, creates numerous problems. Rangelands are not degraded forests- they are healthy, resilient plant and animal communities well adapted to their location.

• Rangeland afforestation is not a natural climate solution
• Unintended Consequences of Planting Native and Non-native Trees in Treeless Ecosystems to Mitigate Climate Change
• Accounting for Albedo Change to Identify Climate-Positive Tree Cover Restoration
• Scrutinizing the Benefits of Rangeland Afforestation as a Natural Climate Solution
• The Darker Side of Tree Planting in the Great Plains
• With Power Comes Responsibility- A Rangelands Perspective on Forest Landscape Restoration
• Valuing Grasslands: Critical Ecosystems for Nature, Climate and People
• Why Tree Planting in Rangelands Can Be Bad for Biodiversity and the Climate
• Should Tree Invasions Be Used in Treeless Ecosystems to Mitigate Climate Change?
• Where tree planting and forest expansion are bad for biodiversity and ecosystem services
• A Rangeland Perspective on Forest Landscape Restoration
• Conflation of Reforestation with Restoration is Wide-spread
• Can Planting a Trilllion New Trees Save the World?
• Trees Won’t Save Us
• Planting Trees in Grasslands Won’t Save the Planet- Rather Protect Trees and Restore Forests
• The Importance of Grasslands, Savannahs and Rangelands in Global Climate Change Strategies
• Planting Trees Won’t Stop Climate Change
• Afforestation Is Not a Solution to Mitigate CO₂ Emissions
• The Long Shadow of Colonial Forestry Is a Threat to Savannahs and Grasslands
• Trees are overrated
• Myth-busting tropical grssbiome restoration
• Tree Planting Schemes Can Destroy Rangelands and Damage Pastoral Livelihoods
• Afforestation of Savannas: An Impending Ecological Disaster
• Biome Awareness Disparity is BAD for Tropical Conservation and Restoration
• ‘Bad science’: Planting Frenzy Misses The Grasslands For The Trees
• Comment on The Global Tree Restoration Potential
• Grassy Biomes: An Inconvenient Reality for Large-scale Forest Restoration? A comment on the essay by Chazdon and Laestradius
• Global Priority Areas for Ecosystem Restoration
• The Trouble With Trees: Afforestation Plans for Africa
• Ill-judged Tree Plainting in Africa Threatens Ecosystems
• Restoration Prioritization Must Be Informed by Marginalized People
• Combatting Global Grassland Degradation
• Beyond CO₂: Multiple Ecosystem Services From Ecologically Intensive Grazing Landscapes of South America
• Clarifying the Confusion: Old-growth Savannahs and Tropical Ecosystem Degradation
• Ecologies of the Colonial Present: Pathological Forestry From the taux de boisement to Civilized Plantations
• Case studies of the importance of grasslands globally (for carbon storage)
• Biodiversity-rich European grasslands: Ancient, forgotten ecosystems
• Are Livestock Always Bad for the Planet?
• High Plant Diversity and Slow Assembly of Old-Growth Grasslands
• Management of Korangadu Pastureland
• A Guide to Decolonize Language in Conservation

International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists 2026

• Brief for IYRP Working Group of Afforestation in Rangelands
• Rangeland Afforestation is not a Viable Climate Change Mitigation Strategy