Disturbance maintains alternative biome states

• Published in: Ecology letters Vol. 19; no. 1; pp. 12 - 19
• Main Authors: Dantas, Vinícius de L, Hirota, Marina, Oliveira, Rafael S, Pausas, Juli G, Rejmanek, Marcel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Blackwell Science 01.01.2016; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Africa South of the Sahara; Americas; Cerrado; Ecosystems; Environmental conditions; environmental factors; feedbacks; fire; Fires; forest; Forests; Geography; Grassland; Grasslands; herbivores; Herbivory; landscapes; mosaic; savanna; savanna-forest transition; Savannahs; savannas; soil; Soil - chemistry; thresholds; Trees - physiology; tropical; Tropical Climate; Tropical environments; tropics; Vegetation; wooded grasslands; tropical; forest; thresholds; savanna; herbivory; mosaic; feedbacks; fire; savanna-forest transition; Cerrado

Understanding the mechanisms controlling the distribution of biomes remains a challenge. Although tropical biome distribution has traditionally been explained by climate and soil, contrasting vegetation types often occur as mosaics with sharp boundaries under very similar environmental conditions. W...