March 3, 2026
American grasslands provide critical biodiversity and ecosystem services, from cattle grazing to waterfowl hunting to carbon storage. However, they are highly threatened, with climate change exacerbating impacts from agriculture, development and other stressors. Grasslands in the midwest and north central United States, in particular, are projected to be exposed to high rates of extreme temperatures.
Grasslands are also intensively managed by private landowners and government and non-governmental agencies. Benjamin Zuckerberg, PhD, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison led a Midwest Climate Adaptation Science Center project exploring the opportunity to integrate concepts of climate refugia with existing grassland management strategies to efficiently conserve and manage vulnerable species. Climate refugia provide relatively buffered conditions for species that are facing negative climate change impacts.
In Conservation Science and Practice, the research team uses declining grassland birds as a case study to demonstrate that integrating climate refugia into existing management could make conservation efforts more resilient and forward-looking. The authors write: “Grasslands are often perceived as homogeneous — lacking the vegetation structure and elevational gradients found in forested and montane systems. However, grasslands are exposed to highly variable climate conditions at regional and local scales and, as such, grassland conservation and management can and should benefit significantly from the concept of climate-change refugia.”
The authors explain that there are opportunities to incorporate climate refugia into grasslands management at different scales. Macro-scale refugia require landscape-level planning to identify and conserve large cooler, wetter or more stable areas. For example, a region with a high diversity of wetland types could offer refugia during periods of extreme drought. Micro-scale refugia require maintaining vegetation structure and microclimates that reduce temperature stress. For example, a grassland area with denser vegetation might provide species such as greater prairie-chicken with refuge from temperature extremes. Both approaches provide potential benefits to vulnerable species.
Grassland management decisions can be complex and are often implemented by private landowners. While challenges to widespread adoption of climate refugia goals exist — including varied habitat preferences, economic factors and land histories — existing collaborations and dialogue among management partners demonstrate significant potential of the practice.
Read the publication in Conservation Science and Practice.