Reference - Detail
| RRC ID | 89548 |
|---|---|
| Author | Telford EM, Pennington RT, Ringelberg JJ, Stevens N, Lehmann CER. |
| Title | The Ecology of Encroachment: Identifying the Species and Plant Ecological Strategies Driving African Savanna Vegetation Change. |
| Journal | Glob Chang Biol |
| Abstract |
Woody encroachment threatens African savanna and grassland biodiversity and ecosystem function. Prior studies have focused on the drivers and rates, yet encroacher ecology remains underexplored. We synthesized data across six dominant woody savanna genera (Combretum, Dichrostachys, Prosopis, Senegalia, Terminalia and Vachellia) to test whether encroachers represent a non-random subset of species with life history strategies and functional traits that facilitate establishment and dominance in changing ecosystems. Species were classified as encroachers based on documented ecosystem impacts and compared to non-encroachers across climatic niches, geographic range size and traits linked to survival in disturbance-prone ecosystems, including maximum height, plant habit, spinescence and capacity for nitrogen fixation. We identified 63 encroacher species, which occupied broader temperature (11°C-29°C vs. 17°C-27°C) and precipitation (50-2100 mm vs. 444-2300 mm) niches and larger geographic ranges (600,000 km2 vs. 100,000 km2) than non-encroachers. Encroachers were generally taller and exhibited plasticity in habit at individual and community scales. Our results suggest that encroachment is driven by ecologically versatile woody species with wide environmental tolerances, large ranges and high phenotypic plasticity. These advantageous attributes may enhance responsiveness to global change factors characteristic of African savannas and grasslands, including altered fire and herbivory regimes, along with rising atmospheric CO2. Understanding the ecology of the species driving encroachment could improve early monitoring and management. |
| Volume | 32(2) |
| Pages | e70707 |
| Published | 2026-2-6 |
| DOI | 10.1111/gcb.70707 |
| Description | BiodiC-J data were referenced. |
| PMID | 41652802 |
| MeSH | Africa Biodiversity Climate Change* Grassland* |
| Altmetric score |
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| Total number of mentions | 0 |
| Altmetric score changes over past 6months | 0.0 |
| Resource | |
| GBIF | Plant Specimen Database of Tama Forest Science Garden, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Japan Ibaraki Nature Museum, Vascular Plants collection Vascular plant specimens of National Museum of Nature and Science (TNS) Herbarium of Kitakyushu Museum of Natural History and Human History Plant specimens in the Museum of Nature and Human Activities, Hyogo Plant specimens deposited in Osaka Museum of Natural History, Japan Vascular Plant Specimen database of Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Natural History Herbarium Specimens of Bonin and Ryukyu Islands Tracheophyta collection of Biodiversity Center of Japan, Ministry of the Environment |