Preface

Globally, the attainment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established in 2015, especially poverty alleviation, zero hunger, clean water and sanitation, decent work and economic growth, climate action, and life on land, are both directly and indirectly associated with grasslands. The underlying reason is that grasslands, also referred to as prairies, savannas, steppes, and meadows, play a strategic role in sustaining diverse ecosystems and provide a wide array of crucial benefits to the environment, wildlife, livestock, and human communities. For instance, grasslands play an important role in carbon sequestration wherein the grasses store bulk quantities of carbon in the soil through their deep root systems. Grasslands are also significant in sustaining biodiversity (plants, birds, and animal species), controlling floods, providing water through effective regulation of rainwater, and preventing erosion and improving infiltration and hotspots of recreational activity such as hiking, birdwatching, and so on. Moreover, grasslands are precious sources of feed for livestock, herbs for traditional medicines, and rearing spots for honeybees. They also have cultural value in terms of spiritual and religious sites. However, grasslands have remained quite vulnerable to invasive weed species, anthropogenic disturbances (e.g., land conversion for carrying out modern input-intensive farming, uncontrolled grazing by livestock, etc.), and numerous types of climate change. This book, *Grasslands – Conservation and Development*, has been tailored to address these issues. It suggests practices for conserving grasslands that ensure the protection and sustainable management of grassland ecosystems by maintaining the biodiversity and ecological integrity for persistent provision of ecosystem services, as well as grassland development initiatives intended for improving the productivity and sustainability of grassland areas for agricultural purposes.

The book is organized into two sections. Section 1, "Novel Grasslands Conservation Approaches", synthesizes fundamental concepts, recent advancements, and knowledge on sustainable management, biologically viable protection, economic utilization, effective restoration, and viable preservation of grasslands. Section 2, "Grasslands Development Initiatives", includes chapters that discuss recently developed initiatives that ensure the conversion of grasslands into more profitable, selfsustaining, and ecologically balanced natural or improved entities.

Chapter 1 discusses the fundamentals and advancements of grassland conservation and development using artificial intelligence (AI) tools. It suggests that AI-based tools might be developed and optimized as viable, reliable, and cost-effective methods to monitor and assess grassland production potential under changing pedo-climatic scenarios. Moreover, it elaborates that digitalized monitoring using automated tools might assist in recognizing native grass species as well as invasive species and analyzing soil fertility status for formulating effective management and conservation options. For instance, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) integrating numerous types of cameras and sensors hold the potential to precisely collect scattered spatial and temporal information with remarkably high resolution in the visible and infrared

spectrum. Likewise, this chapter forwards the idea that AI, deep learning (DL), and machine learning (ML) could aid in the construction of 2D and 3D models for establishing grass species composition, total vegetation cover, barren patches, and nutritional quality of grass species. Furthermore, ML and AI algorithms may be employed for localizing grass species from data supplied by images and sensors. Using these approaches, grass species can be localized down to the centimeter scale and maps can be constructed to illustrate grass cover distribution on large swathes of grasslands.

Chapter 2 examines grasslands in terms of carbon sink, ecological barriers and watershed for low riparian regions, feedstock, mineral extraction sites for drilling and mining, and numerous associated benefits like wool, herbs for traditional medicines, tourism and leisure, and more in China and Pakistan. Additionally, it highlights that grassland ecosystems have been persistently degraded by anthropogenic disturbances (land use changes, tourism, intensive grazing, fire, vegetation clearance, invasive weeds such as knapweed, parthenium, Johnsongrass, etc.) and climate change drivers (heat, drought, chilling, salinity, and shifting of rainfall patterns) in both countries. Moreover, it suggests that for conserving grasslands, nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) in these countries' soils are integral for maintaining the primary productivity of grass species; hence estimating the extent of numerous interventions on N and C cycling along with grass–microbe interactions become imperative from socioeconomic and environmental perspectives. The chapter also compiles recent knowledge on the productivity status and persistent degradation of grasslands in China and Pakistan. Finally, the chapter analyzes the prevalence of invasive weeds in grasslands, grass– microbe interactions and their effect on the growth of plant species, microclimate, and availability of nutrients as well as synthesizes recent advances in C and N dynamics in grasslands ecosystems.

Chapter 3 proposes that grasslands in lowlands and mountains either in natural form or developed landscape can provide an added value in terms of ecotourism opportunities, owing to having huge esthetic and recreational potential compared to uniform agricultural areas. It has been objectively highlighted that grasslands characterized by high species and habitat diversity-based ecotourism are a form of nature-based tourism whereby people visit natural or developed areas for recreation, sightseeing, permitted and controlled hunting, on-site purchase of organic products, and more, and are usually managed by adopting sustainable practices. Moreover, it highlights that ecotourism can generate multifaceted economic advantages for local communities such as the direct sale of products to tourists. This chapter highlights a variety of negative impacts such as the high number of tourists, which leads to overuse of resources. Finally, the authors describe pronounced challenges to the development of grasslands for ecotourism, such as lack of community cooperation, careless herders, need of hefty investment, and absence of trained human capital along with climate change and loss of biodiversity.

Chapter 4 reports that prescribed grassland burning in Japan (commonly referred to as Noyaki in Japanese) for the purpose of grassland conservation has been conducted for over a thousand years by local residents. It highlights that biomass burning has emerged as one of the most significant sources of airborne substances including mercury. Additionally, during Noyaki, the chapter authors sampled and measured gaseous mercury from the Noyaki plumes to better understand mercury emission and cycle in the local environment. The chapter reports on the remarkable elevation of

atmospheric mercury concentrations, demonstrating the emission of gaseous mercury from the Noyaki. Lastly, the chapter discusses possible origins, novel information on the results inferred, and future research directions.

Chapter 5 highlights that many conventional farming approaches in developing nations segregate livestock and crop production, ignoring the synergistic advantages and sustainable land management possibilities that may be gained by combining the two. It suggests that in order to increase agricultural output and foster grassland conservation, the idea of merging livestock and crop systems must be considered. By highlighting the advantages and challenges of the approach, this chapter draws attention to the potential benefits of integration, including enhanced soil fertility, efficient resource use, increased productivity, and better protection of grassland ecosystems. Moreover, the chapter explores the importance and viability of a variety of integrated agricultural methods, including agro-pastoral, mixed, and silvopastoral systems, in a variety of geographical settings. Finally, this chapter culminates with solid suggestions to educate policymakers, academics, and practitioners about the need to integrate livestock and crop production to achieve long-term agricultural sustainability in low-income nations.

Chapter 6 focuses on determining the quality of grasses using spectroscopy techniques, specifically, spectrophotometry. It points out that chemical methods used to determine the nutritional quality of grasses produce chemical residues, are timeconsuming, and are costly to use when analyzing large crop extensions. Thus, the chapter authors suggest that spectroscopy, which is a non-destructive technique, can establish the nutritional quality of grass easily and accurately. This chapter describes the techniques focused on the use of spectroscopy and machine learning models to predict and determine the quality of grasses. Moreover, it compiles different methods and results focusing on the quality of the grasses. In general, it shows that the most used spectroscopic method is the near-infrared analysis. In addition, the statistical model most used by the authors to predict the quality of grasses is the partial least squares regression. Moreover, this chapter interestingly portrays spectroscopy as an effective tool that opens the way to new types of technologies for determining the quality of grasses.

Chapter 7 provides an overview of the fundamental aspects of cation exchange capacity (CEC) and its significance as a soil fertility indicator, particularly in evaluating pasture quality. It highlights the limitations of conventional methods and emphasizes the need to explore alternative approaches for rapid pasture quality assessment. In addition, this contribution focuses on the growing importance of hyperspectral information (HSI) as a valuable tool for efficient and accurate CEC estimation. It also discusses the advantages and challenges associated with using HSI data for CEC estimation and its potential to enhance decision-making in pasture and forage production. This chapter highlights that HSI technology allows for the capture and analysis of a wide spectrum of light reflectance information at various wavelengths, providing valuable insights into the physical and chemical characteristics of the soil.

Chapter 8 delves into the intricate relationship between agro-pastoralism and grassland ecosystems in Tanzania's Western Serengeti and Ugalla ecosystems. This chapter reveals that despite the acknowledged contribution of agro-pastoralism to rural well-being and economic development, its impact on the delicate balance of grassland ecosystems remains unclear in these crucial Tanzanian landscapes. Moreover, it illuminates agro-pastoralism's environmental, social, and economic dimensions in these regions. Guided by research questions exploring current conditions, potential solutions, and the path toward sustainable grassland resource utilization, the study employs a systematic approach to develop grasslands for promoting agro-pastoralism. Furthermore, it highlights challenges pertaining to the progressive expansion of agropastoral activities, leading to trade-offs between ecosystem services and productivity. Finally, this chapter concludes with the identification of agro-pastoral clusters across the area, revealing variations in economic activities and their impact on grassland utilization.

Key Features of the book:


I would like to acknowledge the strategically vital and pertinent intellectual support furnished by my mentor Dr. Asif Iqbal (Associate Professor, Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan) and Dr. Chunjia Li (Sugarcane Research Institute, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China).

#### **Muhammad Aamir Iqbal**

Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Agronomy, University of Poonch Rawalakot, Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan

Section 1
