Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Nebraska
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Juniper expansion is an important issue, especially in the Great Plains, because ecosystem service provisioning is altered when grasslands are invaded by juniper. However, an assessment of the impacts juniper invasion has on ecosystem service provisioning is lacking. A central aim of this thesis research is to synthesize the impacts of juniper invasion on grassland ecosystem services. This synthesis will then be contrasted against: - How Nebraskan’s value ecosystem services - How other invasive species in grasslands alter ecosystem service provisioning - How natural resource professionals perceive the impact of juniper invasion relative to other invasive species