Articles | Volume 11, issue 23
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-6939-2014
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-6939-2014
Research article
 | 
11 Dec 2014
Research article |  | 11 Dec 2014

Continental-scale impacts of intra-seasonal rainfall variability on simulated ecosystem responses in Africa

K. Guan, S. P. Good, K. K. Caylor, H. Sato, E. F. Wood, and H. Li

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Cited articles

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Anderegg, L. D. L., Anderegg, W. R. L., and Berry, J. A.: Not all droughts are created equal: translating meteorological drought into woody plant mortality, Tree Physiol., 33, 701–712, 2013.
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Climate change is expected to modify the way that rainfall arrives, namely the frequency and intensity of rainfall events and rainy season length. Yet, the quantification of the impact of these possible rainfall changes across large biomes is lacking. Our study fills this gap by developing a new modeling framework, applying it to continental Africa. We show that African ecosystems are highly sensitive to these rainfall variabilities, with esp. large sensitivity to changes in rainy season length.
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