#savannasmatter — Public Fediverse posts

@HollyCo26588808 Where? Tree-planting is bad for #OpenNaturalEcosystems such as #TropicalGrassyBiomes and #Savannas.

#SavannasMatter

All those biome-specific papers I see that start out by claiming to be "the biggest" or "the most biodiverse" or "the most threatened" or some other thing of global importance, when we have yet to accurately define and map the #biomes on Earth, are getting beyond tedious.

That said, I have to add that #GrassyBiomes are grossly underappreciated compared to #Forests.

#SavannasMatter
@ecology

@hfalcke This sounded good until I read they plant trees. I really hope they are planting the correct trees in the right places, and are not misguided by false classification of savannas and other #TropicalGrassyBiomes as "degraded forests". Planting the wrong trees in the wrong place is a disaster for biodiversity in those places.

#savannasmatter

Open letter: There are more than just trees and forests to be conserved and restored.

#SavannasMatter
@ecology

https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ppp3.10635

The 5th paragraph is an example of debunking a myth with another myth framed as "Truth". Besides the FAO's fatally flawed definition of #forest possibly protecting #GrassyBiomes from agric expansion, how can conversion to agric not be human-induced? #SavannasMatter

https://pro-news.globalforestwatch.org/news-events/busting-3-myths-about-deforestation-monitoring-for-the-eudr?utm_campaign=decrecap2024&utm_medium=bitly&utm_source=MonthlyRecap

@ecology

Perpetuation of the myth that savannas are "barren" and forests are "fertile".

"This model shows two stable states, one being a fertile forest state and the other being a barren savanna state."

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11071-024-10176-y

#SavannasMatter
@ecology

The webinar by Land & Carbon Lab on 18th July on mapping the world's trees should be interesting, especially for those doing #SavannaScience who know that tree height and cover are not sufficient metrics for defining forests. #SavannasMatter

@ecology

https://www.landcarbonlab.org/news-updates/mapping-trees-unprecedented-detail-ai

@fionag11

A great resource as long as it is not used to map global forests, or decide where to plant billions of trees in the name of forest restoration. Tree canopy height does not define forests.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2023.121381

@ecology

#SavannasMatter

@Snoro What exactly is a "savanna-like biome"? If it is degraded forest, then call it a forest biome in a degraded state. Calling it savanna-like perpetuates the misperception that savannas are degraded forests.

#savannasmatter

@CelloMomOnCars
Raising trees to restore #grasslands (i.e. #afforestation) makes no sense at all.

#SavannasMatter
Stop #forestization of #GrassyBiomes

C4 vegetation covers 17.5% of global land surface. C4 natural grass cover decreased from 2001-2019 (due to elevated CO2) and C4 crop cover increased (because of maize expansion).

C4 photosynthesis accounts for ~19% of global photosynthesis (~3% from C4 crops and ~16% from C4 natural grasses).

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-45606-3

#SavannasMatter

Planting trees in the name of #reforestation is BAD for #TropicalGrassyBiomes.

#BiomeAwarenessDisparity

“…vegetation definitions that only consider tree cover are problematic for tropical grassy biomes…”

science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adj0899

#SavannasMatter
#TropicalGrassyBiomes
#forests #reforestation

@ecology

Forest & Non-forest can't be defined by tree cover alone.

The WRI's Trees Outside Forests Indicator of forest extent is based on defining land that has trees outside forests as "all human-managed urban and agricultural land with tree cover and all other land with greater than zero percent and less than 10 percent tree cover".

https://research.wri.org/gfr/forest-extent-indicators/trees-outside-forests?utm_campaign=janrecap2024&utm_medium=bitly&utm_source=MonthlyRecap.

The definition misclassifies #TropicalGrassyBiomes that have >10% tree cover as 'forest'.
#BiomeAwarenessDisparity

#SavannasMatter

@ecology

Millions of USD going into planting trees in Africa.

https://www.africa.terramatch.org/?utm_campaign=janrecap2024&utm_medium=bitly&utm_source=MonthlyRecap

All based on arbitrary structural definitions of trees and forests.

https://greater-rift-valley-worldresources.hub.arcgis.com/

No inclusion of plant functional traits to distinguish #TropicalGrassyBiomes with fire-tolerant, shade-intolerant trees and shrubs from #forests with fire-intolerant, shade-intolerant trees.

#SavannasMatter

@ecology

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2311280120

The authors provide evidence that vegetation changes in SE Asia during the Last Glacial Maximum involved "fluid" transitions between lowland rainforest, seasonally dry forest and tropical montane forest, not switches between forest and savanna. However, their depiction of the alternative stable state model of forests and savannas is flawed. It doesn't consider recent insights and is based on erroneous interpretation of earlier studies in #SavannaScience.
#SavannasMatter

@PIK_climate #SavannasMatter too.

https://whylivestockmatter.org/alive-4-climate-alliance

#ClimateCrisis #climatechange #livestockmatter
#SavannasMatter

Why is it wrong to monitor global #forests using only vegetation structure?

"Monitoring global forests using only structural metrics – problems and solutions from a savanna viewpoint"

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112723006151

#SavannasMatter
#TropicalGrassyBiomes

Yes! Stop #forestization of #TropicalGrassyBiomes in the name of #forest "restoration". Stop the #Greenwashing.

https://mstdn.science/@KnowableMag/110939360119211152

#SavannasMatter

@mongabay
The whole project should be canned. It's misguided and little more than #greenwashing funded by the #GlobalNorth. Many of the areas targeted for #reforestation are neither #deforested nor #degradedforest. They are natural #OpenBiomes such as #TropicalGrassyBiomes

#SavannasMatter

Using the FAO definition of “forest” leads to misclassification of extensive areas of #TropicalGrassyBiomes (tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas) as "forests", especially in South America and Africa. If the definition of “forest” is based on tree cover, then global forest change monitoring is seriously flawed and can lead to gross exaggeration of global forest cover, deforestation, and estimates of forest carbon stocks.

#SavannasMatter

This is so WRONG! "Unlike in much of the tropics, fires in boreal and temperate forests are a natural and important part of the ecology" according to this World Resources Institute report.

https://research.wri.org/gfr/latest-analysis-deforestation-trends

Fires are a natural and important part of the ecology of Earth's #TropicalGrassyBiomes (tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas) too.

#SavannasMatter

Are they really #forest fires, not #savanna fires?

Too much control of fires in #TropicalGrassyBiomes leads to their degradation through #WoodyPlantEncroachment.

#SavannasMatter

https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/9/7046

The multiple impacts of #FossilFuels.

Oil companies replace #TropicalGrassyBiomes with #TreePlantations to create "CO2 compensation forests" to offset their emissions.

#Greenwashing #BiodiversityLoss #ClimateChange
#SavannasMatter

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42729-023-01230-6

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.

#SavannasMatter
#deforestation
#climatechange
#ClimateCrisis

The worst ever map of global #forest cover is in Fig 1 of this paper:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162167

#SavannaScience #SavannasMatter #GrassyBiomes

The FAO’s definition of #forest is based on tree height > 5 m and tree cover > 10%. They introduced the definition in 1980, based on UNESCO’s 'International classification and mapping of vegetation' published in 1973. The FAO’s definition has persisted for > 4 decades despite being outdated and leading to #TropicalGrassyBiomes (savannas) being falsely classified as ‘forest’, 'degraded forest' or 'deforested'.

#SavannasMatter

The problem with large, freely available, datasets is that they are too easy to use blindly. It’s all very well comparing different #RemoteSensing forest cover datasets, but if the definition of forest is wrong, then such studies are wasted resources. The same goes for comparing remote sensing data with ground data, if the ground data are from misclassified sites. Forest inventory data used by #FAO are poor reference data against which to compare satellite products. #SavannasMatter

There is interesting circularity in the use of global forest/non-forest (FNF) and global forest change (GFC) products. FNF maps are used to mask non-forest areas in studies of global forest change, and GFC maps are used to update FNF maps, yet both types of map are almost always based only on vegetation structure (height or tree cover). The situation is analogous to using the wrong screwdriver on a screw that will never tighten, even with the correct screwdriver.

#SavannasMatter #SavannaScience

#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.

#SavannasMatter

https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/to-restore-brazils-cerrado-planting-trees-is-a-bad-option-experts-say/