This is a partial list of publications that reflect a long held interest in biome evolution, where the origins of African savannas obviously interface closely with evolutionary history of grassland and forest biomes, across evolving landscapes.
Included here are some classic papers, which have been curiously (perhaps conveniently) ignored in recent literature. One such classic is White's review of Africa's underground forests.
Also see the chapters of Frank White's Vegetation of Africa.
Bell, R. H. V. (1982) The effect of soil nutrient availability on community structure in African ecosystems. In: B. J. Huntley & B. H. Walker (eds). Ecology of Tropical Savannas. In: Springer Verlag, Berlin. pp 193-216. PDF
Cole, M. M. (1960) Cerrado, Caatinga and Pantanal: The Distribution and Origin of the Savanna Vegetation of Brazil. Geog. J. 126 (2): 168-179. PDF
Cole, M. M. (1963) Vegetation and geomorphology in Northern Rhodesia: an aspect of the distribution of the savanna of central Africa. Geog. J. 129: 290-310. PDF
Cole, M. M. (1982) The influence of soils, geomorphology and geology on the distribution of plant communities in savanna ecosystems. In: B. J. Huntley & B. H. Walker (eds). Ecology of Tropical Savannas. In: Springer Verlag, Berlin. pp 145-174. PDF
Cronk, Q.C.B. (1998). The ochlospecies concept. In: C.R. Huxley, J.M. Lock and D.F. Cutler (editors). Chorology, Taxonomy and Ecology of the Floras of Africa and Madagascar. Pp. 155-170. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. PDF
Cumming, D. H. M. (1982) The influence of large herbivores on savanna structure in Africa. In: B. J. Huntley & B. H. Walker (eds). Ecology of Tropical Savannas. Springer Verlag, Berlin. pp 217-245. PDF
Linder, H. P. (2001) Plant diversity and endemism in sub-Saharan tropical Africa. Journal of Biogeography 28 (2): 169-182. PDF Map (figure 1) with legible data
Linder, P., J. C. Lovett, J. Mutke, W. Barthlott, N. Jurgens, T. Rebelo et al (2004) A numerical re-evaluation of the sub-Saharan phytochoria of mainland Africa. Biologiske Skifter Copenhagen 55: 229-252. PDF
Pannell, C. M. & F. White (1988) Patterns of speciation in Africa, Madagascar, and the tropical Far East: regional faunas and cryptic evolution in vertebrate-dispersed plants. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Miss. Bot. Gard. 25: 639-659. PDF
Tinley, K. L. (1982) The influence of soil moisture balance on ecosystem patterns in Southern Africa. In: B. R. Huntley & B. H. Walker (Ed.). Ecology of Tropical Savannas. Springer Verlag, Berlin. pp 175-191. PDF
Walker, B.H. (1987) Determinants of Tropical Savannas (IUBS Monograph Series). Oxford University Press PDF
White, F. (1965) The savanna woodlands of the Zambezian and Sudanian Domains: an ecological and phytogeographical comparison. Webbia 19:651-681.
White, F. (1971) The taxonomic and ecological basis of chorology. Mitt. Bot. Staatssamml Munchen 10: 91-112.
White, F. (1976) The underground forests of Africa: a preliminary review. Sing. Gard. Bull. 24:57-71. PDF
White, F. (1976) The vegetation map of Africa: the history of a completed project. Boissiera 24:659-666.
White, F. A. (1978) The Afromontane region. In: M. J. A. Werger (Ed.) Biogeography and Ecology of Southern Africa. W H Junk, The Hague. pp. 465-513.
White, F. & M. J. A. Werger (1978) The Guineo-Congolian transition to Southern Africa. In: M. J. A. Werger (Ed.). Biogeography and Ecology of Southern Africa. W H Junk, The Hague. pp. 599-620.
White, F. (1979) The Guineo-Congolian region and its relationships to other phytochoria. Bull. Jard. Bot. Nat. Belg. 49: 11-55.
White, F. (1981) The history of the Afromontane archipelago and the scientific need for its conservation. Afr. J. Ecol. 19: 33-54.
White, F. (1993) The AETFAT chorological classification of Africa: history, methods and applications. Bull. Jard. Bot. Nat. Belge. 62: 225-281.