Quantifying Holistic Benefits of Native Vegetation Restoration

Authors: Jacob Lampman, Kypfer Cordts, Forrest Cobb, Mycha Van Allen, William Fox, Doug Tolleson, Edward Osei and Roel Lopez

Native grasslands in Texas have been steadily disappearing since the arrival of the first settlers. Unfortunately, the combination of habitat loss, degradation by invasive species, and other factors has significantly impacted grassland ecosystems across North America and has left considerable species in danger of extinction (Comer et al., 2018). Specifically, the degradation of native grasslands due to invasive, non-native species has become a global concern and sparked interest in restoring areas to native plant-dominated communities (Gowdy et al., 2022, Smith et al. 2020). Grassland restoration activities have had positive impacts in increasing biodiversity, soil health, and increased carbon sequestration (Bai and Cotrufo, 2022; Castagneyrol and Jactel, 2012). In addition, there are economic benefits for industries to perform restoration of degraded sites (Thomas et al., 2016).

Texan by Nature, in collaboration with EOG Resources Inc., developed this project to quantify the environmental and economic benefits of restoring rangeland with native vegetation in the Eagle Ford Shale play. Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute (NRI) and Texas A&M University Rangeland, Wildlife, and Fisheries Management Department (RWFM) supported this project by providing data collection and data summary in support of final analysis by EcoMetrics. This report provides the summary of data collection. The results of this case study are intended to assist EOG Resources and other operators in making decisions for future restoration projects.