Grasslands, which constitute almost 40% of the terrestrial biosphere, provide habitat for a great diversity of animals and plants and contribute to the livelihoods of more than 1 billion people worldwide. Whereas the destruction and degradation of grasslands can occur rapidly, recent work indicates that complete recovery of biodiversity and essential functions occurs slowly or not at all. Grassland restoration—interventions to speed or guide this recovery—has received less attention than restoration of forested ecosystems, often due to the prevailing assumption that grasslands are recently formed habitats that can reassemble quickly. Viewing grassland restoration as long-term assembly toward old-growth endpoints, with appreciation of feedbacks and threshold shifts, will be crucial for recognizing when and how restoration can guide recovery of this globally important ecosystem.

中文翻译：

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古老草原指导草原恢复的宏伟目标

草原占陆地生物圈的近 40%，为种类繁多的动植物提供了栖息地，并为全球超过 10 亿人的生计做出了贡献。尽管草原的破坏和退化可能会迅速发生，但最近的工作表明，生物多样性和基本功能的完全恢复发生缓慢或根本没有发生。草原恢复——加速或指导这种恢复的干预措施——受到的关注少于森林生态系统的恢复，这通常是由于普遍认为草原是最近形成的栖息地，可以迅速重新组合。将草原恢复视为向旧增长终点的长期组装，并赞赏反馈和阈值变化，