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Cited by 188Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics StudiesConservation, Biodiversity, and Resource ManagementWildlife Ecology and Conservation

The underestimated biodiversity of tropical grassy biomes

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Murphy, Brett P., Andersen, Alan N., Parr, Catherine L.·2016·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
DOI 10.1098/rstb.2015.0319PMC PMC4978875
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Abstract

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 biome, requiring periodic disturbance for their maintenance. However, that scientific interest has not translated into widespread appreciation of, and concern about threats to, their biodiversity. In terms of biodiversity, grassy biomes are considered poor cousins of the other dominant biome of the tropics—forests. Simple notions of grassy biomes being species-poor cannot be supported; for some key taxa, such as vascular plants, this may be valid, but for others it is not. Here, we use an analysis of existing data to demonstrate that high-rainfall tropical grassy biomes (TGBs) have vertebrate species richness comparable with that of forests, despite having lower plant diversity. The Neotropics stand out in terms of both overall vertebrate species richness and number of range-restricted vertebrate species in TGBs. Given high rates of land-cover conversion in Neotropical grassy biomes, they should be a high priority for conservation and greater inclusion in protected areas. Fire needs to be actively maintained in these systems, and in many cases re-introduced after decades of inappropriate fire exclusion. The relative intactness of TGBs in Africa and Australia make them the least vulnerable to biodiversity loss in the immediate future. We argue that, like forests, TGBs should be recognized as a critical—but increasingly threatened—store of global biodiversity. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Tropical grassy biomes: linking ecology, human use and conservation’.

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  • Tropical grassy biomes have a substantially lower proportion of protected areas than tropical forest, often with individual protected areas far too small.

    “The lack of formal protection, therefore, is of concern; tropical grassy biomes have a substantially lower proportion of protected areas than tropical forest, often with individual areas under protection that are far too small (26).”

    From Restoring Degraded Lands (2021) · cites this paper as [26]

    In “Tropical grassy biomes in protected areas” (page unavailable), the paper reports that 13% of tropical grassy biomes are protected, versus 24% of tropical forest. It also explains why protected areas need to be large and discusses small areas in fragmented landscapes, but does not establish that individual protected areas are often too small. The paper qualifies the overall protection gap: outside the Neotropics, the two biomes receive proportionally similar protection. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Murphy, B. P., Andersen, A. N., & Parr, C. L.
Affiliations
  • Charles Darwin University (AU)
  • Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (AU)
  • University of Liverpool (GB)
Corresponding author
Murphy, Brett P.
ORCID
Venue
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Publisher
The Royal Society
Published
2016-09-19
Volume
371
Issue
1703
Pages
20150319
ISSN
  • 0962-8436 (ISSN-L)
  • 1471-2970
DOI
10.1098/rstb.2015.0319
PMC
PMC4978875
OpenAlex
W2499646374
Cited by
188
References
5
Citations by year
2026: 20 · 2025: 34 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 2
FWCI
8.92
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Australian Research Council (DE130100434)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Keywords
savanna, grassland, vertebrate species richness, biodiversity conservation, range-restricted species, land cover conversion, fire management, fire suppression, protected areas, biodiversity loss
MeSH terms
Animals, Conservation of Natural Resources, Plants, Rain, Tropical Climate, Vertebrates, Biodiversity, Grassland

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