The DOI matches its Crossref record; 7 of the 7 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
When is a ‘forest’ a savanna, and why does it matter?
Abstract
Savannas are defined based on vegetation structure, the central concept being a discontinuous tree cover in a continuous grass understorey. However, at the high-rainfall end of the tropical savanna biome, where heavily wooded mesic savannas begin to structurally resemble forests, or where tropical forests are degraded such that they open out to structurally resemble savannas, vegetation structure alone may be inadequate to distinguish mesic savanna from forest. Additional knowledge of the functional differences between these ecosystems which contrast sharply in their evolutionary and ecological history is required. Specifically, we suggest that tropical mesic savannas are predominantly mixed tree–C4 grass systems defined by fire tolerance and shade intolerance of their species, while forests, from which C4 grasses are largely absent, have species that are mostly fire intolerant and shade tolerant. Using this framework, we identify a suite of morphological, physiological and life-history traits that are likely to differ between tropical mesic savanna and forest species. We suggest that these traits can be used to distinguish between these ecosystems and thereby aid their appropriate management and conservation. We also suggest that many areas in South Asia classified as tropical dry forests, but characterized by fire-resistant tree species in a C4 grass-dominated understorey, would be better classified as mesic savannas requiring fire and light to maintain the unique mix of species that characterize them.
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Cites
Biological Invasions by Exotic Grasses, the Grass/Fire Cycle, and Global Change
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Bowman, D. M. J. S., Balch, J. K., Artaxo, P., Bond, W. J., Carlson, J. M., Cochrane, M. A., D’Antonio, C. M., DeFries, R. S., Doyle, J. C., Harrison, S. P., et al. (2009) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1163886 · Cited by 3,351
Self-citationDeterminants of woody cover in African savannas.
Sankaran, M., Hanan, N. P., Scholes, R. J., Ratnam, J., Augustine, D. J., Cade, B. S., Gignoux, J., Higgins, S. I., Le Roux, X., Ludwig, F., et al. (2005) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature04070 · Cited by 1,963
Self-citationThe global distribution of ecosystems in a world without fire
Bond, W. J., Woodward, F. I., & Midgley, G. F. (2005) · New Phytologist · doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2004.01252.x · Cited by 1,942
Self-citationSimon, M. F., Grether, R., de Queiroz, L. P., Skema, C., Pennington, R. T., & Hughes, C. E. (2009) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0903410106 · Cited by 1,056
What Limits Trees in C4 Grasslands and Savannas?
Bond, W. J. (2008) · Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics · doi:10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.39.110707.173411 · Cited by 909
Self-citationFire-mediated dieback and compositional cascade in an Amazonian forest
Barlow, J., & Peres, C. A. (2008) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2007.0013 · Cited by 360
Cited by
Hoffmann, W. A., Geiger, E. L., Gotsch, S. G., Rossatto, D. R., Silva, L. C. R., Lau, O. L., Haridasan, M., & Franco, A. C. (2012) · Ecology Letters · doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2012.01789.x · Cited by 862
Self-citationTropical grassy biomes: misunderstood, neglected, and under threat
Parr, C. L., Lehmann, C. E. R., Bond, W. J., Hoffmann, W. A., & Andersen, A. N. (2014) · Trends in Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.tree.2014.02.004 · Cited by 603
Self-citationWhere Tree Planting and Forest Expansion are Bad for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
Veldman, J. W., Overbeck, G. E., Negreiros, D., Mahy, G., Le Stradic, S., Fernandes, G. W., Durigan, G., Buisson, E., Putz, F. E., & Bond, W. J. (2015) · BioScience · doi:10.1093/biosci/biv118 · Cited by 531
Self-citationResilience and restoration of tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and grassy woodlands
Buisson, E., Le Stradic, S., Silveira, F. A. O., Durigan, G., Overbeck, G. E., Fidelis, A., Fernandes, G. W., Bond, W. J., Hermann, J., Mahy, G., et al. (2019) · Biological Reviews · doi:10.1111/brv.12470 · Cited by 353
Self-citationDynamics of Green Sahara Periods and Their Role in Hominin Evolution
Larrasoaña, J. C., Roberts, A. P., & Rohling, E. J. (2013) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0076514 · Cited by 334
Metadata
- Authors
- Ratnam, J., Bond, W. J., Fensham, R. J., Hoffmann, W. A., Archibald, S., Lehmann, C. E. R., Anderson, M. T., Higgins, S. I., & Sankaran, M.
- Venue
- Global Ecology and Biogeography
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2011-01-17
- Volume
- 20
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 653-660
- ISSN
- 1466-822X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1838651935
- Cited by
- 475
- References
- 7
- FWCI
- 17.87
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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- Ratnam, J., Bond, W. J., Fensham, R. J., Hoffmann, W. A., Archibald, S., Lehmann, C. E. R., Anderson, M. T., Higgins, S. I., & Sankaran, M. (2011). When is a ‘forest’ a savanna, and why does it matter? Global Ecology and Biogeography. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00634.x
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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
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