Grasslands are under severe threat from ongoing degradation, undermining their capacity to
support biodiversity, ecosystem services and human well-being. Yet, grasslands are largely …

Despite growing recognition of the conservation values of grassy biomes, our understanding
of how to maintain and restore biodiverse tropical grasslands (including savannas and open …

As the Anthropocene advances, there are few parts of Earth that have not been impacted by
human influence. Humans have had a long-sustained interaction with grassy ecosystems …

This book explores the geography, ecology, and antiquity of'open ecosystems', which
include grasslands, savannas, and shrublands. They occur in climates that can support …

For decades, there has been enormous scientific interest in tropical savannahs and
grasslands, fuelled by the recognition that they are a dynamic and potentially unstable …

Climate change is expected to lead to more frequent, intense and longer droughts in the
future, with major implications for ecosystem processes and human livelihoods. The impacts …

Spinescence is an important functional trait possessed by many plant species for physical
defence against mammalian herbivores. The development of spinescence must have been …

Hydraulic failure caused by severe drought contributes to aboveground dieback and whole‐
plant death. The extent to which dieback or whole‐plant death can be predicted by plant …

Knowledge about the biogeographic affinities of the world's tropical forests helps to better
understand regional differences in forest structure, diversity, composition, and dynamics …

Plant functional traits provide a valuable tool to improve our understanding of ecological
processes at a range of scales. Previous handbooks on plant functional traits have …