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Aspects of the Stability and Resilience of Savanna Ecosystems

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Ecology of Tropical Savannas

Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 42))

Abstract

Savannas are among the most variable of terrestrial ecosystems. They undergo large and frequent changes in production, composition and structure and they contain some of the worst examples of degradation by man. There are, accordingly, many references to them as “fragile” and “brittle” ecosystems, with frequent predictions of imminent “collapse”. But these terms have been used loosely, as jargon, and we need now to progress beyond this vague terminology. What, precisely, do we mean by these terms? Is it possible to be more precise? More specifically, can we achieve an understanding of the equilibrium behaviour of savannas? For this deals with how they change, and how much they can change before the change is irrevocable.

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Authors
  1. B. H. Walker
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  2. I. Noy-Meir
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. CSIR, Cooperative Scientific Programmes, P.O. Box 395, 0001, Pretoria, South Africa

    Brian J. Huntley

  2. Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of the Witwatersrand, P.O. Box 1176, 2000, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Brian H. Walker

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© 1982 Springer-Verlag Berlin · Heidelberg

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Walker, B.H., Noy-Meir, I. (1982). Aspects of the Stability and Resilience of Savanna Ecosystems. In: Huntley, B.J., Walker, B.H. (eds) Ecology of Tropical Savannas. Ecological Studies, vol 42. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68786-0_26

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68786-0_26

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-68788-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-68786-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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