Savanna vegetation-fire-climate relationships differ among continents

CER Lehmann, TM Anderson, M Sankaran, SI Higgins… - Science, 2014‏ - science.org
Ecologists have long sought to understand the factors controlling the structure of savanna
vegetation. Using data from 2154 sites in savannas across Africa, Australia, and South …

What Limits Trees in C4 Grasslands and Savannas?

WJ Bond - Annual review of ecology, evolution, and systematics, 2008‏ - annualreviews.org
Though the distribution of global vegetation can generally be predicted from climate,
grasslands are an exception. C4 grassy biomes cover vast areas that are warm enough and …

The global extent and determinants of savanna and forest as alternative biome states

AC Staver, S Archibald, SA Levin - science, 2011‏ - science.org
Theoretically, fire–tree cover feedbacks can maintain savanna and forest as alternative
stable states. However, the global extent of fire-driven discontinuities in tree cover is …

Global resilience of tropical forest and savanna to critical transitions

M Hirota, M Holmgren, EH Van Nes, M Scheffer - Science, 2011‏ - science.org
It has been suggested that tropical forest and savanna could represent alternative stable
states, implying critical transitions at tip** points in response to altered climate or other …

Distribution map** of world grassland types

AP Dixon, D Faber‐Langendoen, C Josse… - Journal of …, 2014‏ - Wiley Online Library
Aim National and international policy frameworks, such as the European Union's
Renewable Energy Directive, increasingly seek to conserve and reference 'highly biodiverse …

What controls the distribution of tropical forest and savanna?

BP Murphy, DMJS Bowman - Ecology letters, 2012‏ - Wiley Online Library
Ecology Letters (2012) 15: 748–758 Abstract Forest and savanna biomes dominate the
tropics, yet factors controlling their distribution remain poorly understood. Climate is clearly …

Tree cover in sub‐Saharan Africa: rainfall and fire constrain forest and savanna as alternative stable states

AC Staver, S Archibald, S Levin - Ecology, 2011‏ - Wiley Online Library
Savannas are known as ecosystems with tree cover below climate‐defined equilibrium
values. However, a predictive framework for understanding constraints on tree cover is …

Woody encroachment over 70 years in South African savannahs: overgrazing, global change or extinction aftershock?

N Stevens, BFN Erasmus… - … Transactions of the …, 2016‏ - royalsocietypublishing.org
Woody encroachment in 'open'biomes like grasslands and savannahs is occurring globally.
Both local and global drivers, including elevated CO2, have been implicated in these …

Woody cover in African savannas: the role of resources, fire and herbivory

M Sankaran, J Ratnam, N Hanan - Global ecology and …, 2008‏ - Wiley Online Library
Aim To determine the functional relationships between, and the relative importance of,
different driver variables (mean annual precipitation, soil properties, fire and herbivory) in …

A continent-wide assessment of the form and intensity of large mammal herbivory in Africa

GP Hempson, S Archibald, WJ Bond - Science, 2015‏ - science.org
Megafaunal extinctions and a lack of suitable remote sensing technology impede our
understanding of both the ecological legacy and current impacts of large mammal …