Clarifying the confusion: old-growth savannahs and tropical ecosystem degradation.

ABSTRACT: Ancient tropical grassy biomes are often misrecognized as severely degraded forests. I trace this confusion to several factors, with roots in the nineteenth century, including misinterpretations of the nature of fire in savannahs, attempts to reconcile savannah ecology with Clementsian succession, use of physiognomic (structural) definitions of savannah and development of tropical degradation frameworks focused solely on forests. Towards clarity, I present two models that conceptualize the drivers of ecosystem degradation as operating in both savannahs and forests. These models highlight how human-induced environmental changes create ecosystems with superficially similar physiognomies but radically different conservation values. Given the limitation of physiognomy to differentiate savannah

SUBMITTER: Veldman JW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4978865 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature