Savanna Vegetation-Fire-Climate Relationships Differ Among Continents

• DOI: 10.1126/science.1247355
• Publication Date: 2014-01-30T20:36:18Z
• Authors: Caroline E. R. Le...; T. Michael Anderson; Mahesh Sankaran; Steven I. Higgins; Sally Archibald; William A. Hoffmann; Niall P. Hanan; Richard J. Williams; Roderick J. Fensham; Jeanine Felfili; Lindsay B. Hutley; Jayashree Ratnam; Jose San Jose; Ruben Montes; Don Franklin; Jeremy Russell-Smith; Casey M. Ryan; Giselda Durigan; Pierre Hiernaux; Ricardo Haidar; David M. J. S. Bo...; William J. Bond
• Keywords: Basal area; Fire regime; Vegetation types; Fire ecology

Ecologists have long sought to understand the factors controlling structure of savanna vegetation. Using data from 2154 sites in savannas across Africa, Australia, and South America, we found that increasing moisture availability drives increases fire tree basal area, whereas reduces area. However, among continents, magnitude these effects varied substantially, so a single model cannot adequately represent woody biomass regions. Historical environmental differences drive regional variation functional relationships between vegetation, fire, climate. These same will determine responses vegetation future climates, with implications for global carbon stocks.