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- Tagesson, Torbern, et al.
(författare)
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Spatiotemporal variability in carbon exchange fluxes across the Sahel
- 2016
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Ingår i: Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1923. ; 226-227, s. 108-118
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Semi-arid regions play an increasingly important role as a sink within the global carbon (C) cycle and is the main biome driving inter-annual variability in carbon dioxide (CO2) uptake by terrestrial ecosystems. This indicates the need for detailed studies of spatiotemporal variability in C cycling for semi-arid ecosystems. We have synthesized data on the land-atmosphere exchange of CO2 measured with the eddy covariance technique from the six existing sites across the Sahel, one of the largest semi-arid regions in the world. The overall aim of the study is to analyse and quantify the spatiotemporal variability in these fluxes and to analyse to which degree spatiotemporal variation can be explained by hydrological, climatic, edaphic and vegetation variables. All ecosystems were C sinks (average ± total error -162 ± 48 g C m-2 y-1), but were smaller when strongly impacted by anthropogenic influences. Spatial and inter-annual variability in the C flux processes indicated a strong resilience to dry conditions, and were correlated with phenological metrics. Gross primary productivity (GPP) was the most important flux process affecting the sink strength, and diurnal variability in GPP was regulated by incoming radiation, whereas seasonal dynamics was closely coupled with phenology, and soil water content. Diurnal variability in ecosystem respiration was regulated by GPP, whereas seasonal variability was strongly coupled to phenology and GPP. A budget for the entire Sahel indicated a strong C sink mitigating the global anthropogenic C emissions. Global circulation models project an increase in temperature, whereas rainfall is projected to decrease for western Sahel and increase for the eastern part, indicating that the C sink will possibly decrease and increase for the western and eastern Sahel, respectively.
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| 2. |
- Tagesson, Torbern, et al.
(författare)
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Very high CO2 exchange fluxes at the peak of the rainy season in a West African grazed semi-arid savanna ecosystem
- 2016
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Ingår i: Geografisk Tidsskrift. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0016-7223. ; 116:2, s. 93-109
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Africa is a sink of carbon, but there are large gaps in our knowledge regarding the CO2 exchange fluxes for many African ecosystems. Here, we analyse multi-annual eddy covariance data of CO2 exchange fluxes for a grazed Sahelian semi-arid savanna ecosystem in Senegal, West Africa. The aim of the study is to investigate the high CO2 exchange fluxes measured at the peak of the rainy season at the Dahra field site: gross primary productivity and ecosystem respiration peaked at values up to −48 μmol CO2 m−2 s−1 and 20 μmol CO2 m−2 s−1, respectively. Possible explanations for such high fluxes include a combination of moderately dense herbaceous C4 ground vegetation, high soil nutrient availability and a grazing pressure increasing the fluxes. Even though the peak net CO2 uptake was high, the annual budget of −229 ± 7 ± 49 g C m−2 y−1 (±random errors ± systematic errors) is comparable to that of other semi-arid savanna sites due the short length of the rainy season. An inter-comparison between the open-path and a closed-path infrared sensor indicated no systematic errors related to the instrumentation. An uncertainty analysis of long-term NEE budgets indicated that corrections for air density fluctuations were the largest error source (11.3% out of 24.3% uncertainty). Soil organic carbon data indicated a substantial increase in the soil organic carbon pool for the uppermost.20 m. These findings have large implications for the perception of the carbon sink/source of Sahelian ecosystems and its response to climate change.
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