Short answers, pulled from the story.
A meadow is an open habitat vegetated primarily by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. A pasture differs from a hay meadow in that it is grazed through the summer rather than being allowed to grow out and periodically cut for hay.
According to ecologist Professor John Rodwell, England and Wales have lost about 97% of their hay meadows over the past century. Fewer than 15,000 hectares of lowland meadows remain in the UK, and most surviving sites are small and fragmented.
25% of the UK's meadows are found in Worcestershire. Foster's Green Meadow, managed by the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, is a major site.
Algonquians, Iroquois, and other Native American peoples regularly cleared areas of forest by burning to create transitional meadows where deer and game could find food and be hunted. Some of today's North American meadows originated thousands of years ago through those regular burnings.
A study of meadows in the Rocky Mountains found that phenological responses to climate change cause the distinct floral peaks of dry, mesic, and wet meadow systems to diverge in timing, creating a gap during mid-summer with little floral activity. This threatens pollinators that rely on a continuous supply of floral resources.
Yes. Meadows, especially seagrass meadows, are significant carbon sinks in the global carbon cycle. Deep-rooted grasses store substantial carbon in soil, and restoring degraded grassland can reduce carbon dioxide release. California's cap-and-trade program has examined how meadow restoration might be incorporated into its carbon emission reduction framework.