43. Nitrogen in savannas

Organised by Susanne Schmidt of the University of Queensland. First meeting was held 10-13 March 2008, at U Queensland

PARTICIPANTS LIKELY TO INCLUDE Susanne Schmidt, U Queensland (ecophysiology) (leader) Mercedes Bustamante, U Brasilia, Brazil (ecology/ecophysiology) Tibisay Pérez, IVIC Venezuela (greenhouse gases) Janet Sprent, U Dundee Scotland (floristics, N-fixation) Christian Werner, IMK Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Germany (greenhouse gases) Lindsay Hutley, Charles Darwin U (ecology/ecophysiology) Caroline Lehmann, Charles Darwin U (ecology/ecophysiology) Natalie Rossiter, Charles Darwin U (ecology) Anna Richards, Macquarie U (ecophysiology) Stephen Livesley, University of Melbourne Diane Allen, Dept of Natural Resources and Water, QLD

Mar 08 >

GOAL

The savanna biome covers approximately 20% of global land surface and 40% of the sub/tropics. Similar to rainforests, savannas are being widely transformed for agriculture, and it is unknown how land use change affects processes at local, regional, continental and global scales.

We are in the process synthesizing existing knowledge of the savanna biome in context of nitrogen biogeochemistry. Change to the savanna biome includes clearing for agriculture, grazing, fire, and weed invasion. Yet, the increasing fragmentation of the savanna biome has received comparatively little attention despite the importance of the biome for global processes.

The synthesis paper will bridge the gap between local and global processes by focusing on meso/regional scales, and outline generalities between savanna types and land uses across continents.

The working title is ‘Local to global understanding of nitrogen relation in tropical savannas; implications for management and conservation’

Last updated March 2008