Nicola Stevens

TL;DR: It is argued that the functional traits of each woody flora, specifically the N-fixing ability and architecture of woody plants, are critical to predicting encroachment over the next century and that African savannas are at high risk of widespread vegetation change.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyse changes in woody density in fire experiments at three sites in South African savannas where the disturbance regime (fire and herbivores) was kept constant for 30 and 50 years.

TL;DR: Wood encroachment may significantly alter ecosystem functioning including fire regimes, herbivore carrying capacity, biodiversity, and carbon storage capacity as mentioned in this paper, and increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations may also contribute, by increasing growth rates of trees relative to grasses.

TL;DR: Bastin et al. as discussed by the authors estimated that tree planting for climate change mitigation could sequester 205 gigatonnes of carbon is approximately five times too large, which inflated soil organic carbon gains, failed to safeguard against warming from trees at high latitudes and elevations, and considered afforestation of savannas, grasslands, and shrublands to be restoration.

TL;DR: Elephants in low-rainfall savannahs prevent encroachment and localized megafaunal extinction is a probable additional cause of encroachment, indicating that a global factor may be driving encroachment.