Islands of plant diversity within working landscapes: a strategic intervention for restoring rangeland monocultures

Rangelands across the globe increasingly face anthropogenic disturbances, including improper grazing practices, maladaptive fire regimes, and climate change, leading to the emergence of novel ecosystems. These systems are stable ecological states that cannot feasibly be reverted to previous preferred conditions. We focus on a specific type of novel ecosystem characterized by monocultures of competitive introduced forage species. While not always regarded as “degraded landscapes,” these ecosystems can have dramatically altered spatiotemporal distributions of resources, leading to resource deficits that severely diminish the ability of rangelands to support livestock and wildlife and to provide other critical ecosystem services. For instance, seasonal protein deficiencies in large herbivores, insufficient vegetation structure for wildlife cover, and diminished soil function are all manifestations of these resource deficits. In this paper, we explore the use of strategic islands of functional and diverse perennial plants as a landscape intervention for both long-term ecosystem restoration and near-term mitigation of resource deficits to optimize livestock or wildlife production. Current agricultural approaches, such as protein supplementation, tend to address resource deficits symptomatically rather than holistically, while diversity-oriented ecological restoration approaches do not always prioritize continued production or plant–animal interactions within working landscapes. We introduce the islands of diversity (IOD) approach which aims to restore spatial and/or temporal distribution of critical resources, including nutrients and medicinal secondary compounds, plant structure, adaptive soil conditions, and vegetative propagules, while potentially improving the health of grazers and nutrient density of resulting animal products. We explore the current challenges and opportunities associated with a case study in which IODs are used to improve rangeland condition, livestock production, and wildlife habitat. Within this case study we explore the use of emerging technologies such as remote sensing and drone imaging for IOD site selection, virtual fencing for the management of grazing within IOD, and the influence of IOD on animal movement and distribution. Ultimately, IODs are a promising landscape intervention for addressing resource deficits affecting livestock, wildlife, and ecosystem processes in rangeland monocultures.