The impact of rain events on CO2 emissions from contrasting land use systems in semi-arid West African savannas

Berger, Sina; Bliefernicht, Jan; Linstädter, Anja; Canak, Kristijan; Guug, Samuel; Heinzeller, Dominikus; Hingerl, Luitpold; Mauder, Matthias; Neidl, Frank; Quansah, Emmanuel; Salack, Seyni; Steinbrecher, R.; Kunstmann, Harald

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.07.397

Cited by 19 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…The results show that by early May, ambient rainfall with moderate grazing had resulted in cumulative CO 2 emissions of about 16.3 tons ha −1 . These values are comparable to those reported in other parts of SSA (Kim et al, 2016;Berger et al, 2019). Kim et al (2016) reported emission rates of 3.3-57 tons CO 2 ha −1 year −1 in natural terrestrial systems of the SSA of which grasslands emitted an average of 15.5 ± 3.8 tons CO 2 ha −1 year −1 .…”

Section: Effect Of Drought and Grazing On Soil Carbon Storage And Co supporting

confidence: 85%

“…Due to the large size of soil carbon pools in dryland grasslands (Plaza et al, 2018) and due to the uncertainty of emission capacity of these ecosystems, it is critical to carry out precise quantifications of carbon stocks and emissions. This would not only help to obtain reliable global carbon budgets but to also develop mitigation options for low-emission through proper land use management practices (Berger et al, 2019). The quantification of grassland carbon (C) fluxes is also required to identify major control factors and to clarify whether specific grassland ecosystems sequester more atmospheric CO 2 through photosynthesis than they emit to the atmosphere through respiration (Lefèvre et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among these two drivers, drought has been reported to have a greater influence on biomass production than grazing (Bat-Oyun et al, 2016). It is well documented that precipitation promotes plant growth which in turn leads to increased CO 2 assimilation (Berger et al, 2019). However, that same precipitation that promotes CO 2 uptake also stimulates its emission through increased respiration (Xu et al, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Disentangling Drought and Grazing Effects on Soil Carbon Stocks and CO2 Fluxes in a Semi-Arid African Savanna

Munjonji

Ayisi

Mudongo

et al. 2020

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Grasslands cover ca. 30% of the global land surface and provide critical ecosystem services. Among them, carbon storage is one of the most important. However, grasslands are increasingly threatened by drought and overgrazing which might negatively affect soil carbon stocks. Despite this threat, there is a dearth of information on how drought and grazing jointly impact soil carbon stocks and CO 2 fluxes in dryland grasslands. With the aid of a large field experiment, we studied the combined effects of a 5-year extreme drought and moderate grazing on soil carbon stocks, CO 2 fluxes and soil chemical properties. Extreme drought was induced by reducing ambient rainfall by 66% using large rainout shelters. We found CO 2 fluxes to strongly respond to the 5-year experimental drought. Extreme drought reduced CO 2 emission rates by 32% compared to ambient conditions. CO 2 fluxes averaged 5.7 mg m −2 min −1 under drought compared to 8.3 mg m −2 min −1 under ambient conditions. CO 2 fluxes were, however, not influenced by grazing. At the end of the growth period, grazed plots under ambient rainfall had released 16.3 tons of CO 2 ha −1 which was 58% higher than observed on grazed plots subjected to severe drought. Soil carbon stocks were higher under drought conditions due to slower decomposition rates. Drought resulted in increased concentrations of primary macronutrients (N, P, and K), micronutrients (Zn and Mn) and pH in the top 30 cm of the soil relative to ambient conditions. The results also showed that grazing reduced the concentration of N and P in the topsoil compared to the ungrazed plots. This study provided insights on the soil carbon storage, CO 2 emission rates and nutrient dynamics in a semi-arid dryland grassland as influenced by both drought and grazing. Our study also revealed that long-term extreme drought may be favorable in terms of preserving the existing soil carbon stocks through reduced CO 2 release. This finding is critical for understanding future soil carbon dynamics in dryland grasslands in the face of climate change.

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Section: Effect Of Drought and Grazing On Soil Carbon Storage And Co supporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Disentangling Drought and Grazing Effects on Soil Carbon Stocks and CO2 Fluxes in a Semi-Arid African Savanna

Munjonji

Ayisi

Mudongo

et al. 2020

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…CC BY 4.0 License. (Delon et al, 2015;Hiernaux et al, 2009;Timouk et al, 2009;Baup et al, 2007;Tagesson et al, 2016;Boke-Olén et al, 2016;Velluet, 2014), 4 (Quansah et al, 2015;Berger et al, 2019) 305 https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2020-417 Preprint. Discussion started: 5 February 2021 c Author(s) 2021.…”

Section: Model Setup and Initializationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Grote¹

2021

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“…Main drivers causing variation in space are abiotic factors such as topoedaphic conditions or climate, and biotic factors such as grazing pressure (Guuroh et al, 2018;Oomen et al, 2016). Variation in time is generally caused by the vegetation's phenological development, by variable weather conditions, and by management decisions (Berger et al, 2019;Brüser et al, 2014). Here, rainfall is regarded as the most important driver of forage production (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards Forage Resource Monitoring in subtropical Savanna Grasslands: going multispectral or hyperspectral?

Ferner

Linstädter

Rogaß

et al. 2021

European Journal of Remote Sensing

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Forage supply of savanna grasslands plays a crucial role for local food security and consequently, a reliable monitoring system could help to better manage vital forage resources. To help installing such a monitoring system, we investigated whether in-situ hyperspectral data could be resampled to match the spectral resolution of multi-and hyperspectral satellites; if the type of sensor affected model transfer; and if spatio-temporal patterns of forage characteristics could be related to environmental drivers. We established models for forage quantity (green biomass) and five forage quality proxies (metabolisable energy, acid/neutral detergent fibre, ash, phosphorus). Hyperspectral resolution of the Hyperion satellite mostly resulted in higher accuracies (i.e. higher R 2 , lower RMSE). When applied to satellite data, though, the greater quality of the multispectral Sentinel-2 satellite data leads to more realistic forage maps. By analysing a three-year time series, we found plant phenology and cumulated precipitation to be the most important environmental drivers of forage supply. We conclude that none of the investigated satellites provide optimal conditions for monitoring purposes. Future hyperspectral satellite missions like EnMAP, combining the high information level of Hyperion with the good data quality and resolution of Sentinel-2, will provide the prerequisites for installing a regular monitoring service.

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The impact of rain events on CO2 emissions from contrasting land use systems in semi-arid West African savannas

Cited by 19 publications

References 57 publications

Disentangling Drought and Grazing Effects on Soil Carbon Stocks and CO2 Fluxes in a Semi-Arid African Savanna

Disentangling Drought and Grazing Effects on Soil Carbon Stocks and CO2 Fluxes in a Semi-Arid African Savanna

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Towards Forage Resource Monitoring in subtropical Savanna Grasslands: going multispectral or hyperspectral?

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