Grassland Communities and Ecosystems [1]
Title | Grassland Communities and Ecosystems |
Publication Type | Book Chapter |
Year of Publication | 2017 |
Authors | Sala O.E [2], Vivanco L. [3], Flombaum P. [4] |
Book Title | Reference Module in Life Sciences |
Publisher | Elsevier |
ISBN | 978-0-12-809633-8 |
Accession Number | JRN00657 |
Keywords | grassland communities [5], grassland ecosystems [6] |
Abstract | This chapter describes global grassland communities and grassland ecosystems. Grasslands [7] represent one of the largest vegetation types [8] on Earth and their existence is determined by water scarcity that in turn depends on precipitation and temperature. This vegetation type harbors a high diversity of plant species that mostly occurs at fine spatial scales because grasslands tend to be structurally simpler at coarser scales. Grassland species richness [9] has strong and positive effects on primary production as a result of increasing niche complementarity with increasing diversity. Grasslands are among the most vulnerable ecosystems in the world because their diversity is threatened by human activity, mostly as a consequence of conversion into croplands [10]. |
DOI | 10.1016/B978-0-12-809633-8.02201-9 [11] |