Data from: Advancing transdisciplinary research on Madagascar's grassy biomes to support resilience in ecosystems and livelihoods
Data files
Mar 19, 2024 version files 192.66 KB
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DescriptiveEvidenceMetaData_fin.xlsx
191.56 KB
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README.md
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Mar 19, 2024 version files 182.93 KB
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DescriptiveEvidenceMetaData_fin.xlsx
181.82 KB
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README.md
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Abstract
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.
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.1zcrjdg0p
This dataset includes publication metadata associated with interdisciplinary evidence around Madagascar’s grassy biomes. Publications and associated metadata were systematically collated into an Excel sheet.
Description of the data and file structure
Relevant publications are listed in columns A-D; the type of evidence is listed in column E; the region of Madagascar is listed in column F, followed by latitude and longitude (column G-H). Site name is provided in column I, as well as relevant research contact details (Column J). An approximate date range for the evidence is provided in column K, and a short data description is provided in column L. Column M indicates whether the data was included in a previously published data table, and column N indicates where the given data can be accessed. Column N includes additional Notes, and Column P includes relevant publication DOIs.
The data was collected through a systematic review of publically available manuscripts. The assosciated manuscript is published in Ecological Monographs (Phelps et al. in press).