Great Plains

Widespread plow-up of grasslands for row crops is devastating many parts of the Great Plains, especially the Northern Great Plains. Plow-up destroys habitat, contributes to climate change by releasing stored carbon, and compromises system resilience by severely reducing the land’s ability to absorb water. According to WWF’s annual Plowprint Report, close to 2 million acres of grassland habitat are destroyed each year across the US and Canadian portions of the Great Plains. In the preceding decade, more than 20 million acres were plowed up, contributing to rural depopulation as large farming operations replace family ranching ones. This large-scale habitat destruction is a major contributor to the precipitous decline of wildlife species throughout the Great Plains, including grassland song birds—North America’s fastest-declining group of birds—with some populations declining by as much as 80% since the 1960s. One out of four species of bumble bee, which are counted among North America’s most important pollinators, are also at risk of extinction due, at least in part, to habitat loss and the pesticides associated with row-crop agriculture.

Expansion of woody plants, particularly in the Southern Plains, is resulting in grassland loss at a rate equivalent to that of plow-up. The major invasive species of concern are Eastern red cedar in the central Plains, honey mesquite in the south, and salt cedar and grasses like Arundo in riparian areas, which impact wildlife, water, and livestock production. Nesting songbirds and grouse avoid utilizing areas where trees increase in density; stream flows, aquifer recharge, and soil moisture are reduced; producers lose forage (and therefore income) when native grasses are replaced by invasives and bare ground under trees. Drivers include fire suppression, poor policy, loss of native grazers, underfunded eradication programs, and roads.

The Great Plains is experiencing unprecedented climate-driven extremes, including severe drought, floods, and wildfires. Climate change creates complex tradeoffs and puts the resilience of the local communities at risk, especially rural, Indigenous, and low-income immigrant populations who are at heightened risk because of systemic and ongoing discrimination and reduced access to resources. Climate change is impacting the region in different ways across the Northern and Southern Great Plains.

In the Northern Great Plains, economic dependence on crops, rangelands, and recreation-based livelihoods are vulnerable toclimate-related changes, with changes in temperature and precipitation patterns expected to be the most pronounced. Given the frequency of extremes andweathervariability in the region, it is challenging to quantify long-term climate change trends. Nevertheless, some trends are clear. Since 1900 annual average temperatures have increased in the region by 1.6ºF-2.6º F, with the most pronounced increases in winter. Total annual precipitation is expected be relatively stable across the region but shifts from snow to rain with increased extreme events are projected to increase drought across the region by 2040. Because of these “precipitation pulses” on otherwise dry soils, the Northern Great Plains is expected to experience some of the highest increases in annual flooding damage costs in the contiguous US due to climate change. These impacts will be compounded by increased grassland fires as the spring snow cover melts earlier in the spring. The number of large grasslandwildfiresin the four semiarid ecoregional grasslands of the Northern Great Plains increased by 213% from 1985 to 2014.

In the Southern Great Plains, much of the region is experiencing an unprecedented megadrought that has resulted in the driest conditions seen in over a millennium. Drought conditions have led to water shortages that are threatening ecosystems, farmer livelihoods, and food security. It has also spurred a growing reliance on groundwater reservoirs that are already heavily depleted. Climate change is also creating favorable conditions for invasive species. Crops grown for decades are no longer supported, and water resources for livestock are more limited than ever. Significant portions of the Southern Great Plains are projected to continue to be impacted by drought through the 21st century.

Furthermore, across the Great Plains, the projected increase in CO2, reduced soil moisture, and hotter temperatures will result in lower quality forage for wildlife and livestock. Climate change is also predicted to change patterns of zoonotic disease outbreaks, impacting wildlife population persistence, and create a trophic mismatch that will harm pollinators, grassland birds, and migrating ungulates when timing of growth and blooming changes. Climate change is one of the most pressing threats of our time and must be considered in conservation planning to have lasting impact across the region.

Challenging ranch economics and government policies that favor row crop farming are the two primary drivers leading to unsustainable ranching and row-crop conversion. In addition, range management practices that favor uniform and continuous grazing can result in homogeneous landscapes and loss of biodiversity, with few heavily grazed or lightly grazed areas on which a wide variety of species depend. Riparian areas can be negatively impacted by livestock pressure, with significant areas no longer functioning properly due to downcutting of streambanks. Large scale crop production exacerbates soil erosion and nutrient runoff, impairing water quality. Water intensive crops that may not be appropriate for the region are driving the loss of aquatic ecosystems. Drivers include a lack of technical and financial assistance for producers, a lack of understanding producer motivations, economics that favor quantity over quality, and poor governance mechanisms.

Habitat loss and fragmentation from cropland expansion, roads, non-wildlife friendly fences, oil and natural gas development, and other infrastructure decreases wildlife habitat and connectivity for migratory species such as mule deer and pronghorn. When species are unable to successfully complete their life cycle journeys uninterrupted it can result in negative consequences such as direct mortality, reduced forage quality and availability, lower offspring survival rates, and ultimately population declines.

Lack of access to resources like finance and infrastructure, and inequitable distribution of conservation benefits have resulted in some of the ecoregion’s highest poverty rates, and in many cases food and water insecurity, particularly for Native Nations and for other rural communities. The history of forced settlement and eradication of traditional foods and medicines (e.g. bison, native plants), followed by replacement with commodity food programs and a lack of access to fresh foods (food deserts) have resulted in poor health amongst Indigenous people living on reservations. These insecurities take precedence over conservation in many cases, though with the right approach they can go hand in hand.