ABSTRACT
Grasslands are among the most intensively managed ecosystem in the world, providing important land area for rangeland and for cultivation. This chapter reviews grassland biogeochemistry to provide a template for assessment of management effects. It proposes a conceptual framework for the biogeochemical responses of grasslands to management practice. The chapter reviews the state of knowledge regarding management impacts on ecosystems of the central grasslands. It develops a conceptual framework to explain and predict the effects of human management practices on the biogeochemistry of grasslands in the central grassland region. The chapter suggests that the relative proportions of carbon in the pools and the turnover times are representative of grasslands throughout the region. Small-scale heterogeneity of grasslands, at the scale of individual plants, may be reduced in response to management practices such as fire and cultivation that reduce plant cover or species diversity.
