Unwanted No More: Land Use, Ecosystem Services, and Opportunities for Resilience in Human-Influenced Shrublands

On the Ground•Shrub-dominated rangelands are highly susceptible to land degradation, partly because low land values can encourage neglect, leading to poor stewardship and/or conversion to more lucrative but ecologically less desirably uses.•Recent efforts to assess the value of “ecosystem services” show that commodity values don’t capture all the benefits of shrublands to society.•Efforts to prevent shrubland degradation and land type conversion can be enhanced if the value of noncommodity ecosystem services can be recognized.•Conceptual modeling of socio-ecological systems can point decision makers and stakeholders toward strategies to enhance shrubland resilience and protect ecosystem services.