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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Precipitation as driver of carbon fluxes in 11 African ecosystems
Biogeosciences, Volume 6, No. 6, Year 2009
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Description
This study reports carbon and water fluxes between the land surface and atmosphere in eleven different ecosystems types in Sub-Saharan Africa, as measured using eddy covariance (EC) technology in the first two years of the CarboAfrica network operation. The ecosystems for which data were available ranged in mean annual rainfall from 320mm (Sudan) to 1150mm (Republic of Congo) and include a spectrum of vegetation types (or land cover) (open savannas, woodlands, croplands and grasslands). Given the shortness of the record, the EC data were analysed across the network rather than longitudinally at sites, in order to understand the driving factors for ecosystem respiration and carbon assimilation, and to reveal the different water use strategies in these highly seasonal environments. Values for maximum net carbon assimilation rates (photosynthesis) ranged from ?12.5μmol CO2 m-2 s -1 in a dry, open Millet cropland (C4-plants) up to ?48μmol CO2 m-2 s-1 for a tropical moist grassland. Maximum carbon assimilation rates were highly correlated with mean annual rainfall (r2=0.74). Maximum photosynthetic uptake rates (Fpmax) were positively related to satellite-derived fAPAR. Ecosystem respiration was dependent on temperature at all sites, and was additionally dependent on soil water content at sites receiving less than 1000mm of rain per year. All included ecosystems dominated by C3-plants, showed a strong decrease in 30-min assimilation rates with increasing water vapour pressure deficit above 2.0 kPa. © Author(s) 2009.
Authors & Co-Authors
Merbold, Lutz
Unknown Affiliation
Ardö, Jonas
Unknown Affiliation
Arneth, Almut
Unknown Affiliation
Scholes, Robert J.
Unknown Affiliation
Nouvellon, Yann
Unknown Affiliation
De Grandcourt, A.
Unknown Affiliation
Archibald, Sally
Unknown Affiliation
Bonnefond, Jean Marc
Unknown Affiliation
Boulain, Nicolas
Unknown Affiliation
Brueggemann, N.
Unknown Affiliation
Bruemmer, C.
Unknown Affiliation
Cappelaere, Bernard
Unknown Affiliation
Ceschia, Éric
Unknown Affiliation
El-Khidir, H. A.M.
Unknown Affiliation
El Tahir, B. A.
Unknown Affiliation
Falk, Ulrike
Unknown Affiliation
Lloyd, Jon J.
Unknown Affiliation
Kergoat, Laurent
Unknown Affiliation
Le-Dantec, Valérie
Unknown Affiliation
Mougin, Éric
Unknown Affiliation
Muchinda, Maurice
Unknown Affiliation
Mukelabai, Mukufute M.
Unknown Affiliation
Ramier, David
Unknown Affiliation
Roupsard, Olivier
Unknown Affiliation
Timouk, F.
Unknown Affiliation
Veenendaal, Elmar M.
Unknown Affiliation
Kutsch, Werner Leo
Unknown Affiliation
Statistics
Citations: 145
Authors: 27
Affiliations: 16
Identifiers
Doi:
10.5194/bg-6-1027-2009
e-ISSN:
17264189
Research Areas
Environmental
Study Locations
Congo
Sudan