Growth and fuelwood properties of five tree and shrub species in the Sahelian and Sudanian ecozones of Mali: relationships with mean annual rainfall and geographical coordinates

Montes, Carmen Sotelo; Weber, John C.; Silva, Dimas A.; Andrade, Clarice de; Muniz, G. I. B. de; Garcia, R. Á.; Kalinganiré, Antoine

doi:10.1007/s11056-013-9401-9

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Biophysically, the Sahel is a semi-arid transition zone between the Sahara desert and tropical Africa. With a rainy season of 3-4 months and annual rainfall between and 600-1000 mm, it has a history of significant climatic variability, punctuated with significant drought [34]. Just over 5500 years ago, the area was humid with lush amounts of vegetation [35].…”

Section: Desertification In the Sahelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing the Effectiveness of the “Great Green Wall” as an Adaptation to the Effects of Climate Change and Desertification in the Sahel

O’Connor

Ford

2014

Sustainability

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Abstract:The Great Green Wall (GGW) has been advocated as a means of reducing desertification in the Sahel through the planting of a broad continuous band of trees from Senegal to Djibouti. Initially proposed in the 1980s, the plan has received renewed impetus in light of the potential of climate change to accelerate desertification, although the implementation has been lacking in all but two of 11 countries in the region. In this paper, we argue that the GGW needs modifying if it is to be effective, obtain the support of local communities and leverage international support. Specifically, we propose a shift from planting trees in the GGW to utilizing shrubs (e.g., Leptospermum scoparium, Boscia senegalensis, Grewia flava, Euclea undulata or Diospyros lycioides), which would have multiple benefits, including having a faster growth rate and proving the basis for silvo-pastoral livelihoods based on bee-keeping and honey production.

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Section: Desertification In the Sahelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increasing the Effectiveness of the “Great Green Wall” as an Adaptation to the Effects of Climate Change and Desertification in the Sahel

O’Connor

Ford

2014

Sustainability

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“…as dominant grass type for the Sahelian zone. For the Sudanian ecoregion we chose Burkea africana as dominant tree species and Cenchrus biflorus as dominant grass species (Bocksberger et al, 2016;Geerling, 1985;Sotelo Montes et al, 2014). The parameters describing the specific physiological properties of each species are given in Table 2 for natural and Table 3 for agricultural species.…”

Section: Description and Parameterizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Grote¹

2021

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“…Therefore, we selected Acacia (in particular A. tortilis, also known as Vachellia tortilis) as the dominant tree genus and Cenchrus biflorus as the dominant grass species for the Sahelian zone. For the Sudanian ecoregion, we chose Burkea africana as the dominant tree species and Andropogoneae (in particular Andropogon gayanus) as the dominant grass type (Bocksberger et al, 2016;Geerling, 1985;Sotelo Montes et al, 2014). The parameters describing the specific physiological properties of each species are given in Table 2 for natural species and in Table 3 for agricultural species.…”

Section: The Landscapedndc Model 231 Description and Parameterizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling gas exchange and biomass production in West African Sahelian and Sudanian ecological zones

et al. 2021

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Abstract. West African Sahelian and Sudanian ecosystems provide essential services to people and also play a significant role within the global carbon cycle. However, climate and land use are dynamically changing, and uncertainty remains with respect to how these changes will affect the potential of these regions to provide food and fodder resources or how they will affect the biosphere–atmosphere exchange of CO2. In this study, we investigate the capacity of a process-based biogeochemical model, LandscapeDNDC, to simulate net ecosystem exchange (NEE) and aboveground biomass of typical managed and natural Sahelian and Sudanian savanna ecosystems. In order to improve the simulation of phenology, we introduced soil-water availability as a common driver of foliage development and productivity for all of these systems. The new approach was tested by using a sample of sites (calibration sites) that provided NEE from flux tower observations as well as leaf area index data from satellite images (MODIS, MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer). For assessing the simulation accuracy, we applied the calibrated model to 42 additional sites (validation sites) across West Africa for which measured aboveground biomass data were available. The model showed good performance regarding biomass of crops, grass, or trees, yielding correlation coefficients of 0.82, 0.94, and 0.77 and root-mean-square errors of 0.15, 0.22, and 0.12 kg m−2, respectively. The simulations indicate aboveground carbon stocks of up to 0.17, 0.33, and 0.54 kg C ha−1 m−2 for agricultural, savanna grasslands, and savanna mixed tree–grassland sites, respectively. Carbon stocks and exchange rates were particularly correlated with the abundance of trees, and grass biomass and crop yields were higher under more humid climatic conditions. Our study shows the capability of LandscapeDNDC to accurately simulate carbon balances in natural and agricultural ecosystems in semiarid West Africa under a wide range of conditions; thus, the model could be used to assess the impact of land-use and climate change on the regional biomass productivity.

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Growth and fuelwood properties of five tree and shrub species in the Sahelian and Sudanian ecozones of Mali: relationships with mean annual rainfall and geographical coordinates

Cited by 10 publications

References 35 publications

Increasing the Effectiveness of the “Great Green Wall” as an Adaptation to the Effects of Climate Change and Desertification in the Sahel

Increasing the Effectiveness of the “Great Green Wall” as an Adaptation to the Effects of Climate Change and Desertification in the Sahel

Reply on RC1

Modeling gas exchange and biomass production in West African Sahelian and Sudanian ecological zones

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