Status of Grassland and Wetland Ecosystems in North America's Prairie Pothole Region: Implications for People, Migratory Birds, and Conservation

The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of North America is a globally important grassland and wetland ecosystem critical for numerous populations of migratory birds. Commensurate with its importance, organizations and government agencies spend >$100 million (USD) annually for conservation in the PPR. Over the past 2 decades the PPR has experienced unprecedented losses in grass landcover, wetlands, and birds. These on-going losses are driven by a myriad of factors including policy, economics, and climate change, which have resulted in new threats to the conservation of the PPR. During this period, there have also been major technical improvements in the tools used by scientists to assess change and understand drivers of that change at broad scales. Considering the amount and pace of landscape and policy change as well as the volume of new available science, there is a clear need for synthetic reviews of the status, trends, and threats to grassland and wetland ecosystems, and bird populations to inform future conservation in the PPR.

The goal of this Research Topic is to provide applied science to inform current and future conservation decisions in this globally important resource. We seek to fill this information need with synthetic analyses that can inform the “State of the Prairie Pothole Region” with regard to current and projected rates of loss and conservation of key resources, including grasslands, wetlands, and populations of migratory birds. We also seek to better understand the role and importance of ecosystem services the PPR provides to people throughout the western hemisphere. We seek a better understanding of known and new threats to grassland and wetland ecosystems, including interactions of changes in climate and land use. Lastly, we seek an understanding of people’s perceptions of utilization and conservation of PPR resources. We believe such science will both inform critical decisions about strategic conservation delivery and empower stakeholders with information to improve their communication with the public and broaden a constituency for conservation.

We expect manuscripts in this Research Topic to have broad topical and geographic focus and be relevant to regional conservation decisions. While the PPR spans the U.S.A. and Canada, conservation programs, data streams, polices differ on either side of the border. Accordingly, some of the works for this Research Topic may be focused on only one side of the border if such a focus helps address conservation decisions specific to a country. However, some issues will span the border and a broader focus on the whole PPR may be necessary.

We also welcome submissions that compare and contrast conservation issues and challenges among other similarly globally important wetland-grassland ecosystems (e.g., Kazakh Steppe, South American Pampas, etc.), that advance the conservation knowledge base, tools, or connectivity of the PPR to stakeholders