Those who monitor global #forest cover, or have any other interest in global #forests should mask global non-forest areas such as #GrassyBiomes by using resources such as the IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology (https://www.iucn.org/resources/conservation-tool/iucn-global-ecosystem-typology) or the RESOLVE Ecoregions 2017© biomes map (https://ecoregions.appspot.com/). They are much better than the global #treecover / #treeheight maps that so many use.
#forest #forests #grassybiomes #treecover #treeheight #savannasmatter #deforestation #climatechange #ClimateCrisis
The worst ever map of global #forest cover is in Fig 1 of this paper:
#forest #savannascience #savannasmatter #grassybiomes
#TropicalGrassyBiomes like the #Cerrado of South America are under threat of degradation by #Forestization.
Stop large-scale #TreePlanting in #GrassyBiomes. #Savannas are NOT "degraded forests".
Stop mapping global "forests" in terms of vegetation height and woody cover alone. That leads to misclassification of savannas as #forests.
#tropicalgrassybiomes #cerrado #forestization #Treeplanting #grassybiomes #savannas #forests #savannasmatter
Why is there still an obsessive interest in mapping global forests on the sole basis of remotely sensed vegetation height and woody cover?
For example:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0034425720305381#f0005
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13658816.2023.2183959
Such outdated approaches are prone to misclassifying #GrassyBiomes as "forest" or "degraded forest".
It's now known that plant functional traits and other data not easily acquired by satellites must be included.
For example:
https://spj.science.org/doi/10.34133/2022/9835284
Into "savanna states" or into "savanna-like states"? One assumes that forest and savanna are alternate stable states composed of species with very different functional traits. The other does not.
Savannas and other #GrassyBiomes are not "degraded forests".
Important work.
But the analysis depends on how restoration priority areas are determined, which depends on how ecosystems are defined. Strassburg et al. (2020) is seriously flawed in that regard. Their Extended Data Figs 1 and 5 do not distinguish between "forest" and #GrassyBiomes such as savannas, especially in Africa and South America. This leads to intact savanna areas being misclassified as "degraded forest" and mislabelled as "restoration priority areas".
Important work.
Caveat: The analysis depends on how restoration priority areas are determined, which depends on how ecosystems are defined. Strassburg et al. (2020) is seriously flawed in that regard. Their Extended Data Figs 1 and 5 do not distinguish between "forest" and #GrassyBiomes such as savannas, especially in Africa and South America. This leads to intact savanna areas being misclassified as "degraded forest" and mislabelled as "restoration priority areas".
Excellent review of satellite remote sensing for mapping #GrassyBiomes at regional and global scales.
This is crucial for #SavannaScience and the prevention of #Forestization of #OpenNaturalEcosystems such as #TropicalGrassyBiomes.
The EU and FAO need to read this, and other recent related work, and then realise they need to update their antiquated definition of "forest" based only on veg structure and ignoring #FunctionalTraits.
#grassybiomes #savannascience #forestization #opennaturalecosystems #tropicalgrassybiomes #FunctionalTraits #savannasmatter
Very interesting work by Adie and Lawes reinforcing why managing #GrassyBiomes and #Forests must account for #FunctionalTraits of vegetation.
#grassybiomes #forests #FunctionalTraits
Very interesting work by Adie and Lawes reinforcing why managing #GrassyBiomes and #Forests must account for #FunctionalTraits of vegetation.
#grassybiomes #forests #FunctionalTraits
This is a great resource for learning about tropical and temperate #GrassyBiomes.
The descriptions and maps of savannas are based on current thinking (not the FAO's outdated definitions that perpetuate the misclassification of savannas as "forest" or "degraded forest").
#grassybiomes #savannascience #savannasmatter