Considered the largest of the
vegetation formations found in North America, the grassland ecosystem is
the only continuous terrestrial ecosystem linking Canada, the United
States and Mexico. Yet within the last 150 years relentless exploitation
has turned this into the most threatened ecosystem of the region.
Furthermore, the challenge of conserving this ecosystem is not only
regional but global, since grasslands are also considered worldwide
among the most imperiled ecosystems. The severe degree of loss of this
ecosystem throughout North America is reflected in numerous ways at the
species level. In the 19th century, the almost total annihilation of
tens of millions of bison heralded the end of an era of Native American
prairie cultures whose livelihood depended on this species. The decline
of grasslands species is still present, as expressed by the steady
reduction, in the last 35 years, of the population of most grassland
bird species. Recent studies, including this one, have shown that, as a
group, avian grassland species have been subject to population declines
more so than any other group in any other ecosystem in North America. In
this context, the central grasslands of North America offer a unique
opportunity for cooperation to conserve our shared natural endowment
from the species to the ecosystem level.
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