Report of the work group on savannas and shrublands

Abstract

Savannas and shrublands of Latin America and the Caribbean include a great diversity of ecosystems. For the purpose of this review, we have artificially divided these communities into three major divisions. The first are the true tropical savannas, which generally have precipitation in excess of 900 mm yr^-1. These include the llanos of Venezuela and the cerrado of Brazil. The other two groups can be classified as semi-arid or arid ecosystems — dry savannas and shrublands. The former are primarily legume-dominated savannas occurring in regions with less than 500 mm yr^-1 precipitation. The shrublands are a heterogeneous group including matorral, caatinga, warm desert scrub and austral-patagonian scrub.