Résumé
Madagascar-wide metadata relating to Malagasy Grassy Biomes. The
understanding of vegetation dynamics in tropical grassy biomes is severely
limited across spatio-temporal scales, limiting effective management and
support for livelihoods and biodiversity. Despite their extent, utility,
and central importance to people and ecosystem function, grassy biomes are
often uncritically regarded as degraded, valueless landscapes that result
primarily from destructive anthropogenic forces. Moreover, this
characterization is often presented without investigation of their
history, biodiversity, or ecological complexity. Iconically, Madagascar’s
grassy biomes cover approximately 80% of the island’s land surface today
and exemplify core challenges to understanding tropical grassy ecosystems
and their interactions with anthropogenic activities across
spatio-temporal scales. Intersections between human history and
environmental change have sparked debates about the role of land use in
shaping grassy biomes (e.g., pastoralism, cultivation, fire use), echoing
land use debates globally, and highlighting obstacles to ecosystem and
livelihood resilience. Like many tropical biodiversity hotspots,
Madagascar faces converging challenges that can be aided by an improved
understanding of grassy ecosystems and the livelihoods they support,
including food and health insecurity, economic inequities, biodiversity
loss, climate change, land conversion, and limited resource access.
Centered on improved understanding and management of grassy biomes, we
present a framework to guide transdisciplinary research across the tropics
by: (1) establishing a common terminology; (2) summarising data
contributions and knowledge gaps that reflect those in other tropical
regions; (3) identifying priority research questions; and (4) highlighting
transdisciplinary and inclusive approaches to resolve knowledge gaps and
co-benefit ecosystems and livelihoods.