We compare the numbers of vascular plant species in the three major tropical areas. The
Afrotropical Region (Africa south of the Sahara Desert plus Madagascar), roughly equal in …

Climate change is expected to lead to more frequent, intense and longer droughts in the
future, with major implications for ecosystem processes and human livelihoods. The impacts …

Grasslands are the most threatened and least protected biome. Yet, no study has been
conducted to identify the last remaining continuous grasslands on Earth. Here, we used …

Aim Biomes worldwide are shifting with global change. Biomes whose extents are limited by
temperature or precipitation, such as the tundra and savanna, may be particularly strongly …

Human land-use legacies have long-term effects on plant community composition and
ecosystem function. While ancient and historical land use is known to affect biodiversity …

In the future, the Sahara and Sahelian regions could experience more rainfall than today as
a result of climate change. Wetter periods, termed African humid periods, occurred in the …

A biome is a key community ecological and biogeographical concept and, as such, has
profited from the overall progress of community ecology, punctuated by two major …

Woody encroachment is ubiquitous in grassy ecosystems worldwide, but its global impacts
on the diversity of herbaceous plants that characterise and define these ecosystems remain …

Fire and herbivory both remove aboveground biomass. Environmental factors determine the
type and intensity of these consumers globally, but the traits of plants can also alter their …

The idea that tropical forest and savanna are alternative states is crucial to how we manage
these biomes and predict their future under global change. Large-scale empirical evidence …