An interdisciplinary text on the world's savannas, covering the geography, ecology, economics and politics of savanna regions. Savannas are a distinct vegetation type, covering a third of the world's land surface area and supporting a fifth of the world's population. There has been a wide range of literature on the subject, but the majority of work has focused on the ecology or development of savanna areas, ignoring the wider interdisciplinary issues affecting contemporary savannas. World Savannas aims to buck this trend, providing students with an up-to-date and comprehensive introduction to the global importance of savannas.

Savannas are a mosaic of trees and grasses, covering a third of the world's land surface area and supporting a fifth of the world's population. This text provides a comprehensive introduction to the global importance of savannas, defining savanna distribution, vegetation type, climate, human population and land use. It descirbes the unique biophysical and socio-political conditions that have given rise to the savannas of America, Africa, Asia and Australia, their current status and future trends.