Episode 115: Home on the Range

In this episode, we look at how high crop prices, driven in part by rising global food demand, biofuel incentives, and risk perspective and management, are encouraging the conversion of marginal grasslands into cultivated cropland. As more hay and pastureland is turned over to crop production, wildlife habitat becomes increasingly fragmented, leaving isolated “islands” of grass that may be too small to sustain functioning grassland ecosystems. We explore research using Alberta as a case study to understand the impact that conversion of hay and pasturelands into cropland could have on ecosystem intactness and biodiversity.   Relevant Links: Divergent trends in structural landscape connectivity from historic and potential future grassland conversion in Alberta, Canada (journal article)   Beef Cattle and the Carbon Cycle (article)   Environmental Footprint of Beef Production (webpage)   Gross Margins Calculator (interactive tool)