Global Assessment of Grassland Ecosystem Services (1997–2023): Drivers, Impacts and Strategies for Sustainable Management

Grasslands cover 25％of global land,and provide 20％of human dietary protein and store over 30％of terrestrial carbon.There has been a substantial amount of research on the topic of grassland ecosystem services(GES).However,existing reviews primarily focus on the spatiotemporal changes in the quantity of these services,lacking a comprehensive global discussion on service variations,driving factors,and mitigation strategies.This study employs a combined approach of empirical analysis and systematic review to analyze 534 peer-reviewed publications indexed in Web of Science(1997-2023).The study aims to:(1)evaluate current research on GES,(2)identify key drivers of change and their impacts,and(3)suggest practical strategies for sustainable grassland management.The study found that:(1)Research on grassland ecosystem services has surged in the past decades,mostly in regions with large grasslands and strong economies,with over half of studies conducted in China(39.58％)and the U.S.(16.67％).(2)A total of 41 GESs were identified under four broad categories,with regulating services most studied and cultural services least.(3)Most articles focus on causes of changes,while fewer address human well-being and manage-ment.(4)Climate change and human activities are the main drivers,impacting 81.15％and 70.36％of global grasslands,respectively.(5)The affected area is expanding,reaching 2500.67 million ha and 2094.68 million ha in 2018.We discussed potential reasons for the findings,identified research gaps,highlighted future research areas,and addressed current grassland management issues and offered some practical recommendations.Most im-portantly,we propose a novel"Ecosystem Service-based Grassland Management"(ESGM)framework.The framework's innovation lies in its systematic integration of three critical dimensions:(1)grassland ecosystem service assessment,(2)management practices,and(3)human well-being.This integrated approach offers a robust decision-support tool for poli-cymakers operating at various governance levels.