Fire and mammalian grazers both consume grasses, and feedbacks between grass species, their functional traits, and consumers have profound effects on grassy ecosystem structure worldwide, such that savanna and grassland states determined by fire or grazing can be considered alternate states. These parallel savanna-forest alternate states, which likewise have myriad cascading ecosystem impacts.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2019.01.007 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Grazing can reduce wildfire risk amid climate change.
Science
January 2025
Valério D. Pillar is at the Laboratório de Ecologia Quantitativa, Departamento de Ecologia/Centro de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Over half of Earth's land surface is covered with fire-prone vegetation, with grassy ecosystems-such as grasslands, savannas, woodlands, and shrublands-being the most extensive. In the context of the climate crisis, scientists worldwide are exploring adaptation measures to address the heightened fire risk driven by more frequent extreme climatic conditions such as droughts and heatwaves, as well as by non-native plant invasions that increased fuel loads and altered fire regimes. Although fire is intrinsic to grassy ecosystems, rising exposure to wildfire smoke harms human health and the environment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe GrassSyn dataset: Soil organic carbon stocks in Brazilian grassy ecosystems.
J Environ Qual
December 2024
Departamento de Solos, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Article Synopsis
- Ecosystem management and restoration can boost carbon storage, but knowledge gaps about soil organic carbon (SOC) in specific ecosystems challenge effective climate policies.
- The paper analyzes SOC stock variability in Brazil's main grassy ecosystems and compiles a comprehensive dataset from 182 studies, including soil properties and carbon stocks across various locations.
- Findings reveal that subtropical grasslands have the highest SOC stocks, while other ecosystems like the Cerrado and Amazon are notable for their subsurface carbon levels, with implications for Brazil's greenhouse gas inventory.
Time since fire interacts with herbivore intake rates to control herbivore habitat occupancy.
Ecology
November 2024
Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA.
Article Synopsis
- Smaller grazers prefer recently burned patches for better energy intake, while larger grazers focus on unburned grass for higher quantity.
- The study investigated burn preference changes over time among seven herbivore species using camera traps in Serengeti National Park.
- Results showed that smaller species initially favored burns, but this preference declined after 6 months, while larger herbivores began to select burned areas after 10 months, indicating a shift in grazing behavior over time that simulations did not fully explain.
Enhanced lutein and protein production with improved organoleptic properties in a novel yellow strain of Auxenochlorella pyrenoidosa mutant through atmospheric and room temperature plasma mutagenesis and norflurazon-based screening.
Food Res Int
December 2024
School of Food Science and Engineering, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory for Green Processing of Natural Products and Product Safety, Engineering Research Center of Starch and Vegetable Protein Processing Ministry of Education, South China University of Technology, Wushan Road 381, Guangzhou 510641, PR China. Electronic address:
To achieve the triple purpose of enhancing lutein and protein contents as well as improving organoleptic properties in biomass of Auxenochlorella pyrenoidosa mutant as raw material of future food, a novel yellow mutant, CX41 strain, was successfully selected through atmospheric and room temperature plasma (ARTP) mutagenesis and norflurazon-based screening. CX41 strain exhibited a significantly increased lutein (0.86 mg/g) and protein (49.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInteractions between soil and other environmental variables modulate forest expansion and ecotone dynamics in humid savannas of Central Africa.
Proc Biol Sci
October 2024
AMAP, Univ Montpellier, IRD, CNRS, INRAE, CIRAD, Montpellier 34394, France.
Forest expansion into savanna is a pervasive phenomenon in West and Central Africa, warranting comparative studies under diverse environmental conditions. We collected vegetation data from the woody and grassy components within 73 plots of 0.16 ha distributed along a successional gradient from humid savanna to forest in Central Africa.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!