Managing Open Ecosystems for Biodiversity Conservation, Livelihood Improvement and Climate Change Mitigation

Editors

Jasper A Slingsby

University of Cape Town

Orsolya Valkó

Institute of Ecology and Botany, Centre for Ecological Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Impact

Perspective

28 April 2023

How forests survive alongside flammable open ecosystems: conservation implications for Africa

Anabelle Williamson Cardoso

, 1 more and

William John Bond

Inset showing a schematic of air flow across topographic barriers indicating the development of leeward eddies and the probable locations of forests in wind shadows. Adapted from Geldenhuys (1994).

Mosaics of closed, fire-sensitive forests and open flammable ecosystems are common across Africa and other parts of the world. The open ecosystems have long been interpreted as products of deforestation, but diverse lines of evidence point to their origins millions of years before humans. There is widespread concern over the survival of fire-sensitive forest in a flammable matrix, leading to diverse measures, including fire suppression, to protect forests. But if both systems are ancient, how did fire-sensitive forests survive the regular fires in the flammable open ecosystems? Here we discuss recent research on this topic, with a focus on Africa, including the stability of these mosaics through time and the factors accounting for this. These include local topography, variation in grass flammability, the presence of fire-tolerant forest margin tree species, and fauna that create firebreaks along the forest edge. We go on to discuss the conditions under which mosaics are less stable, for example during extreme fires, and consider the uncertain future of mosaicked landscapes under climate change. Finally, we suggest a set of guidelines for consideration by conservation managers concerned about fire damage to forest patches.

2,973 views

4 citations

Original Research

24 July 2023

Sheepfolds induce significant increase of seasonal CO2, CH4 and N2O emissions in temperate steppes of Inner Mongolia

Xinyu Wang

, 4 more and

Frank Yonghong Li

1,310 views

2 citations

Original Research

16 January 2023

Spatial and temporal effects on the value of ecosystem services in arid and semi-arid mountain areas—A case study from Helan Mountain in Ningxia, China

Yue Ren

, 2 more and

Hang Zhang

In the context of global warming and the continued increase in greenhouse gas emissions, the expansion of the global arid and semi-arid zones will accelerate, and there will be a risk of further land degradation. Changes in land use are one of the human activities that cause the increase in CO₂ concentration in the global atmosphere. This article takes Helan Mountain as the research object which is located in the arid and semi-arid regions. It analyzes the spatial and temporal effects of land use changes, ecosystem service value, and ecological risk of land use in Helan Mountain by using GIS technology and five periods of land use data in 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020. The study results show the following: First, due to land use changes in the arid and semi-arid zones, grasslands lost the largest area (in total 50,407.11 ha) during the study period. Construction land is the highest dynamic land type that increased by 22,364.73 ha. Land use generally shows a trend of increasing before decreasing, with an inevitable increase in the degree of utilization. Second, the total ecosystem service value decreased by 0.1148 million yuan from 5,674.5490 to 5,674.6638 million yuan, which shows a slight change in the overall ecosystem service value. Third, the ecological risk of land use could be divided into five classes, with a transformation characteristic from high and low ecological risk to comparatively high, medium, and comparatively low ecological risk. Fourth, the western side of Helan Mountain is the principal supply area for ecosystem services in the entire study area, which is an area with high-grade ecological risk at the same time. The vulnerability and importance of this area need to be given high priority. This study will provide spatial guidelines for the protection and restoration of ecological security issues such as environmental damage and land degradation in the arid and semi-arid regions of the mountains.

1,471 views

6 citations

Original Research

24 March 2023

Sociodemographic, environmental and biological factors affecting uses of plants from open ecosystems: Insights for improved livelihoods and biodiversity conservation

Carlos Cédric Ahoyo

, 4 more and

Marcel Romuald Benjamin Houinato

2,392 views

3 citations

Brief Research Report

24 November 2022

Toward diverse seed sourcing to upscale ecological restoration in the Brazilian Cerrado

Mateus C. Silva

, 3 more and

Lucy Rowland

Seed markets are vital to scaling up ecosystem restoration in the Brazilian Cerrado, home of the world’s most species-rich grasslands and savannas. We compiled lists of species traded by four major Cerrado seed supply systems to investigate the representativeness of the species currently available for seed-based restoration. We also identified whether dominant ground-layer species are being sourced for seed production. Seeds from 263 Cerrado species can be purchased for restoration, of which 68% are trees, particularly legumes (24%). 63% of the traded species were found in only one seed supply system. The five most dominant graminoids of the Cerrado ground layer were available for sale, but two additional species uncommon in old-growth areas represented 44% of the sales of a key seed trader in Central Brazil. The expansion of Cerrado seed supply systems should be supported to further increase the number of species on the market. Sourcing seeds from a diversity of herbaceous species is central to facilitating the restoration of species-rich grasslands and savannas in the Cerrado. Recovering the diversity and functioning of old-growth open ecosystems through seeds will depend on increasing the supply and demand for species typical of Cerrado’s ground layer.

3,082 views

10 citations