New Center to Model Oklahoma Grassland Conservation

The research team will use an $8 million grant to forecast how ecosystems respond to changing conditions over four years.

Updated on Oct. 20, 2026 in Environmental

Wide view of a golden Oklahoma tallgrass prairie stretching to the horizon under a vast, clear blue afternoon sky. — The U.S. National Science Foundation has awarded an $8 million grant to launch the Center for Grassland Ecosystem Forecasting in Oklahoma. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Do you believe government-funded research is necessary to effectively manage and protect regional grasslands?

Researchers have launched the Center for Grassland Ecosystem Forecasting in Oklahoma, backed by an $8 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation. The center aims to model how grassland ecosystems respond to environmental stressors and management practices over a four-year period.

Why it matters

With North American grasslands having declined by 62%, this initiative seeks to develop precise management tools to mitigate further loss. The research addresses critical drivers of degradation such as invasive species, overgrazing, and woody encroachment.

The center received an $8 million grant to fund four years of predictive modeling research. Scientists will integrate long-term soil, microbial, plant, and weather datasets into simulations to forecast ecosystem trajectories.

The players

Xiangming Xiao

The researcher directing the new Center for Grassland Ecosystem Forecasting.

U.S. National Science Foundation

A federal agency that supports fundamental research and education in all non-medical fields of science and engineering.

University of Oklahoma

A public research university contributing expertise in atmospheric and ecological sciences to the center.

Oklahoma State University

A public land-grant university providing research support for the new grassland conservation initiative.

Noble Research Institute

An independent agricultural research organization focused on regenerative land management and soil health.

The details

The team will establish research observatories at the Kessler Atmosphere and Ecological Field Station and in El Reno to collect longitudinal data. This data will feed into computational simulations designed to model how specific weather conditions and land management techniques influence grassland health. By analyzing interactions between soil microbes and plant cover, researchers aim to quantify the mechanisms behind grassland resilience.

October 20, 2026: Center established and funding announced.
Four-year period: Duration of the National Science Foundation grant.

The Tech Race

This project moves beyond descriptive surveys to establish a predictive forecasting model for ecosystem health. It represents a shift toward using long-term longitudinal data to preemptively manage land against the 62% decline documented by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Land managers and agricultural stakeholders in Oklahoma will eventually gain access to predictive models to guide soil and vegetation health. These tools remain in the research-development phase and are not yet available for public application.

The takeaway

The center represents an effort to turn historical loss data into actionable management intelligence. Interested parties can monitor for future releases of research findings from the Kessler Atmosphere and Ecological Field Station observatories.