Alternate Grassy Ecosystem States Are Determined by Palatability–Flammability Trade-Offs

摘要

Fire and mammalian grazers both consume grasses, and feedbacks between grass species, their functional traits, and consumers have profound effects on grassy ecosystem structure worldwide, such that savannaandgrassland states determined by fire or grazing can be considered alternate states. These parallel savanna–forest alternate states, which likewise have myriad cascading ecosystem impacts.