Long term dynamics and structure of woody vegetation in the Ferlo (Senegal)

Vincke, Caroline; Diédhiou, Ibrahima; Grouzis, Michel

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2009.08.006

Cited by 59 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 20 publications

(30 reference statements)

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“…Many authors documented a re-greening trend on sandy soils and discussed the ability of post-drought regeneration as a function of soil type and topographic position (Hiernaux et al, 2009aVincke et al, 2010;Brandt et al, 2014aBrandt et al, , b, c, 2015Dardel et al, 2014b;Rasmussen et al, 2014). All study areas cited in this paper with a reported re-greening trend, such as Senegal (e.g.…”

Section: Contributions Of Other Authorsmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…Mainguet (1991) has already pointed out that due to increasing run-off towards the valleys, vegetation regrowth is improved. The importance of different landscape elements for re-greening processes is also mentioned by Vincke et al (2010) and Rassmussen et al (2014). The latter two authors found negative NDVI pixels on the plateaus and slopes and positive pixels in the valleys.…”

Section: Contributions Of Other Authorsmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…An increase in bush fallows with prevailing Guiera senegalensis and Combretum glutinosum has been observed in Bandiagara (Brandt et al, 2014a) and in Ferlo, Senegal (Vincke et al, 2010;Brandt et al, 2014aBrandt et al, , 2017a.…”

Section: Contributions Of Other Authorsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Thiéry et al, 1995;von Hardenberg et al, 2001;Lejeune et al, 2002;Rietkerk et al, 2004;Dekker et al, 2007;Gilad et al, 2007;Meron, 2012;Sect. 4.4).…”

Section: Contributions Of Other Authorsunclassified

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Desertification, resilience, and re-greening in the African Sahel – a matter of the observation period?

Kusserow

2017

Earth Syst. Dynam.

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Abstract. Since the turn of the millennium various scientific publications have been discussing a re-greening of the Sahel after the 1980s drought mainly based on coarse-resolution satellite data. However, the author's own field studies suggest that the situation is far more complex and that both paradigms, the "encroaching Sahara" and the "re-greening Sahel", need to be questioned. This paper discusses the concepts of desertification, resilience, and re-greening by addressing four main aspects: (i) the relevance of edaphic factors for a vegetation re-greening, (ii-iii) the importance of the selected observation period in the debate on Sahel greening or browning, and (iv) modifications in the vegetation pattern as possible indicators of ecosystem changes (shift from originally diffuse to contracted vegetation patterns).The data referred to in this paper cover a time period of more than 150 years and include the author's own research results from the early 1980s until today. A special emphasis, apart from fieldwork data and remote sensing data, is laid on the historical documents.The key findings summarised at the end show the following: (i) vegetation recovery predominantly depends on soil types; (ii) when discussing Sahel greening vs. Sahel browning, the majority of research papers only focus on post-drought conditions. Taking pre-drought conditions (before the 1980s) into account, however, is essential to fully understand the situation. Botanical investigations and remote-sensing-based time series clearly show a substantial decline in woody species diversity and cover density compared to pre-drought conditions; iii) the self-organised patchiness of vegetation is considered to be an important indicator of ecosystem changes.

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Section: Contributions Of Other Authorsmentioning

confidence: 80%

Section: Contributions Of Other Authorsmentioning

confidence: 81%

Section: Contributions Of Other Authorsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Thiéry et al, 1995;von Hardenberg et al, 2001;Lejeune et al, 2002;Rietkerk et al, 2004;Dekker et al, 2007;Gilad et al, 2007;Meron, 2012;Sect. 4.4).…”

Section: Contributions Of Other Authorsunclassified

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Desertification, resilience, and re-greening in the African Sahel – a matter of the observation period?

Kusserow

2017

Earth Syst. Dynam.

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“…Li et al (2004) showed that total carbon stock in vegetation and soils was reduced significantly due to forest clearing in south-central Senegal. Diouf and Lambin (2001) and Vincke et al (2009) concluded that the degree of land degradation in Ferlo, North Senegal caused by drought, was dependent on soil quality and anthropogenic pressure. Mbow et al (2008) found that rapid environmental degradation in Saloum, Central East Senegal was caused by conversion of forest and savannah areas to agricultural land for groundnut cultivation.…”

Section: Land Degradation In Senegalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing Rainfall Use Efficiency Trends with Expert Judgments for Nation-Wide Land Degradation Assessments: The Case of Senegal

Sonneveld¹,

Bai²,

Ndiaye³

et al. 2012

JSD

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This study compares the results of two nationwide land degradation assessments for Senegal. The first approach is based on expert judgments, the second on trend analyses of Rainfall Use Efficiency (RUE). The comparison yields some interpretable results for extreme negative RUE slope values with maximum degrees of land degradation as indicated by experts, yet, overall, the correlation between both approaches proves to be low and without clear sign. As RUE trend analysis suffers from several inherent methodological problems and expert judgments are found to be consistent we consider expert opinions as the preferable option for a nation-wide land degradation assessment in Senegal. Yet, we argue that methodological improvements would increase the explanatory power of the expert approach and consolidate its position in a policy making framework.

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Estimating water fluxes in the critical zone using water stable isotope approaches in the Groundnut and Ferlo basins of Senegal

Diongue

Stumpp

Roupsard

et al. 2023

Hydrological Processes

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Sustainable water management in semi-arid agriculture practices requires quantitative knowledge of water fluxes within the soil-vegetation-atmosphere system. Therefore, we used stable-isotope approaches to evaluate evaporation (E a ), transpiration (T a ), and groundwater recharge (R) at sites in Senegal's Groundnut basin and Ferlo Valley pasture region during the pre-monsoon, monsoon, and post-monsoon seasons of 2021. The approaches were based upon (i) the isothermal evaporation model (for quantifying E a ); (ii) water and isotope mass balances (to partition E a and T a for groundnut and pasture); and (iii) the piston displacement method (for estimating R). E a losses derived from the isothermal evaporation model corresponded primarily to Stage II evaporation, and ranged from 0.02 to 0.09 mm d À1 in the Groundnut basin, versus 0.02-0.11 mm d À1 in Ferlo. At the groundnut site, E a rates ranged from 0.01 to 0.69 mm d À1 ; T a was in the range 0.55-2.29 mm d À1 ; and the T a /ET a ratio was 74%-90%. At the pasture site, the ranges were 0.02-0.39 mm d À1 for E a ; 0.9-1.69 mm d À1 for T a ; and 62-90% for T a /ET a . The ET a value derived for the groundnut site via the isotope approach was similar to those from eddy covariance measurements, and also to the results from the previous validated HYDRUS-1D model. However, the HYDRUS-1D model gave a lower T a /ET a ratio (23.2%). The computed groundwater recharge for the groundnut site amounted to less than 2% of the local annual precipitation. Recommendations are made regarding protocols for preventing changes to isotopic compositions of water in samples that are collected in remote arid regions, but must be analysed days later. The article ends with suggestions for studies to follow up on evidence that local aquifers are being recharged via preferential pathways.

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Long term dynamics and structure of woody vegetation in the Ferlo (Senegal)

Cited by 59 publications

References 20 publications

Desertification, resilience, and re-greening in the African Sahel – a matter of the observation period?

Desertification, resilience, and re-greening in the African Sahel – a matter of the observation period?

Comparing Rainfall Use Efficiency Trends with Expert Judgments for Nation-Wide Land Degradation Assessments: The Case of Senegal

Estimating water fluxes in the critical zone using water stable isotope approaches in the Groundnut and Ferlo basins of Senegal

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