Changes in Climate May Result in Higher Production for Prairie Grasslands
J. Thorpe, S.A. Wolfe, and B. Houston – Potential Impacts of Climate Change on Grazing Capacity of Native Grasslands in the Canadian Prairies
A joint study by J. Thorpe1, S.A. Wolfe2, and B. Houston3 to explore possible changes to the local climate, and discover what effect they could have on native grass growth rates in the Prairie regions of Central Canada has just been completed. Relatively little research has been completed in Canada in terms of native grassland production research
By using several parameters such as temperature, precipitation, potential evapotranspiration, and actual evapotranspiration, and correlating them with data on grassland production from stations in Canada, several different models were able to produce likely trends of production in the Canadian Prairies. Of the numerous models used, no major discrepancies were found between them, and so no reason was given to favour one model over another.
In general, the models resulted in mostly positive, modest changes in the productivity of Native Grasslands located on loam soils. It was also theorized that the CO2 fertilization effect could compensate any decrease in productivity, although this effect was not directly addressed. This study has also shown that areas with >80% native grasses will probably become more abundant in northern grasslands under climatic warming, especially on sand soils, and that this could contribute to higher productivity in some circumstances.
All of these findings are important to the ranching community of the Prairies, as native grasslands prairie provides a number of economic and ecologic benefits. The approximately 7.8 million hectares of grassland allows for conservation of biodiversity and soil, and contributes largely to grazing areas for local livestock; grazing capacity is dependant upon growth, or production of the grasses, and the greater the production, the better the land will be for grazing.
- Saskatchewan Research Council
- Natural Resources Canada/Geological Survey of Canada
- Agri-Food Canada/Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration
For more information contact Steve Wolfe or ERCC@nrcan.gc.ca
Areas of Native Grassland growth.
References
Potential impacts of climate change on grazing capacity of native grasslands in the Canadian praries; Thorpe, J; Wolfe, S A; Houston, B. Canadian Journal of Soil Science.(ESS Cont.# 20070266 In Press).
Useful Link
Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation for Key Economic and Natural Environment Sectors