Biodiversity of Palaearctic grasslands: a synthesis

This article introduces a Special Issue on biodiversity of Palaearctic grasslands and provides a synthesis of the current knowledge on this topic. Four major categories of grasslands can be distinguished in the Palaearctic biogeographic realm: (a) zonal steppes (in areas too dry for forests), (b) arctic-alpine grasslands (in areas too cold for forests), (c) azonal and extrazonal grasslands (where hydrology, soil conditions, relief or natural disturbances within the forest biomes prevent tree growth locally) and (d) secondary grasslands (which replace natural forests in consequence of human land use). We summarize the present knowledge about species richness patterns (mainly of vascular plants) along abiotic…

• B
  Biodiversa+
• BF
  Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
• BF
  Belgian Federal Science Policy Office
• HS
  Hungarian Scientific Research Fund

  Awards: A/2-11-1-2012-0001, PD 100 192, -2012-0001
• MD
  Ministère de l'Écologie, du Développement Durable et de l'Énergie
• CE
  Climate Extremes