Articles | Volume 12, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-2927-2015
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-2927-2015
Research article
 | 
21 May 2015
Research article |  | 21 May 2015

Structural, physiognomic and above-ground biomass variation in savanna–forest transition zones on three continents – how different are co-occurring savanna and forest formations?

E. M. Veenendaal, M. Torello-Raventos, T. R. Feldpausch, T. F. Domingues, F. Gerard, F. Schrodt, G. Saiz, C. A. Quesada, G. Djagbletey, A. Ford, J. Kemp, B. S. Marimon, B. H. Marimon-Junior, E. Lenza, J. A. Ratter, L. Maracahipes, D. Sasaki, B. Sonké, L. Zapfack, D. Villarroel, M. Schwarz, F. Yoko Ishida, M. Gilpin, G. B. Nardoto, K. Affum-Baffoe, L. Arroyo, K. Bloomfield, G. Ceca, H. Compaore, K. Davies, A. Diallo, N. M. Fyllas, J. Gignoux, F. Hien, M. Johnson, E. Mougin, P. Hiernaux, T. Killeen, D. Metcalfe, H. S. Miranda, M. Steininger, K. Sykora, M. I. Bird, J. Grace, S. Lewis, O. L. Phillips, and J. Lloyd

Related authors

MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields tree cover needs calibrating in tropical savannas
Rahayu Adzhar, Douglas I. Kelley, Ning Dong, Charles George, Mireia Torello Raventos, Elmar Veenendaal, Ted R. Feldpausch, Oliver L. Phillips, Simon L. Lewis, Bonaventure Sonké, Herman Taedoumg, Beatriz Schwantes Marimon, Tomas Domingues, Luzmila Arroyo, Gloria Djagbletey, Gustavo Saiz, and France Gerard
Biogeosciences, 19, 1377–1394, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1377-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1377-2022, 2022
Short summary
Soil Aggregate Stability of Forest Islands and Adjacent Ecosystems in West Africa
Amelie Baomalgré Bougma, Korodjouma Ouattara, Halidou Compaore, Hassan Bismarck Nacro, Caleb Melenya, Samuel Ayodele Mesele, Vincent Logah, Azeez Jamiu Oladipupo, Elmar Veenendaal, and Jonathan Lloyd
SOIL Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2019-87,https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2019-87, 2020
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Are fire mediated feedbacks burning out of control?
J. Lloyd and E. M. Veenendaal
Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2015-660,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2015-660, 2016
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Edaphic, structural and physiological contrasts across Amazon Basin forest–savanna ecotones suggest a role for potassium as a key modulator of tropical woody vegetation structure and function
J. Lloyd, T. F. Domingues, F. Schrodt, F. Y. Ishida, T. R. Feldpausch, G. Saiz, C. A. Quesada, M. Schwarz, M. Torello-Raventos, M. Gilpin, B. S. Marimon, B. H. Marimon-Junior, J. A. Ratter, J. Grace, G. B. Nardoto, E. Veenendaal, L. Arroyo, D. Villarroel, T. J. Killeen, M. Steininger, and O. L. Phillips
Biogeosciences, 12, 6529–6571, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-6529-2015,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-6529-2015, 2015
Short summary
The influence of C3 and C4 vegetation on soil organic matter dynamics in contrasting semi-natural tropical ecosystems
G. Saiz, M. Bird, C. Wurster, C. A. Quesada, P. Ascough, T. Domingues, F. Schrodt, M. Schwarz, T. R. Feldpausch, E. Veenendaal, G. Djagbletey, G. Jacobsen, F. Hien, H. Compaore, A. Diallo, and J. Lloyd
Biogeosciences, 12, 5041–5059, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-5041-2015,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-5041-2015, 2015
Short summary

Related subject area

Biogeochemistry: Land
Gross primary productivity and the predictability of CO2: more uncertainty in what we predict than how well we predict it
István Dunkl, Nicole Lovenduski, Alessio Collalti, Vivek K. Arora, Tatiana Ilyina, and Victor Brovkin
Biogeosciences, 20, 3523–3538, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3523-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3523-2023, 2023
Short summary
Scale variance in the carbon dynamics of fragmented, mixed-use landscapes estimated using model–data fusion
David T. Milodowski, T. Luke Smallman, and Mathew Williams
Biogeosciences, 20, 3301–3327, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3301-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3301-2023, 2023
Short summary
Seasonal controls override forest harvesting effects on the composition of dissolved organic matter mobilized from boreal forest soil organic horizons
Keri L. Bowering, Kate A. Edwards, and Susan E. Ziegler
Biogeosciences, 20, 2189–2206, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2189-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2189-2023, 2023
Short summary
Carbon cycle extremes accelerate weakening of the land carbon sink in the late 21st century
Bharat Sharma, Jitendra Kumar, Auroop R. Ganguly, and Forrest M. Hoffman
Biogeosciences, 20, 1829–1841, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1829-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1829-2023, 2023
Short summary
Estimating oil-palm Si storage, Si return to soils, and Si losses through harvest in smallholder oil-palm plantations of Sumatra, Indonesia
Britta Greenshields, Barbara von der Lühe, Felix Schwarz, Harold J. Hughes, Aiyen Tjoa, Martyna Kotowska, Fabian Brambach, and Daniela Sauer
Biogeosciences, 20, 1259–1276, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1259-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-1259-2023, 2023
Short summary

Cited articles

Adejuwon, J. and Adesina, F.: The nature and dynamics of the forest-savanna boundary in south-western Nigeria, in: Nature and dynamics of forest-savanna boundaries, Chapman and Hall, London, 331–351, 1992.
Alexandre, D.-Y. and Kaïré, M.: Les productions des jachères africaines à climat soudanien (Boiset produits divers), in: La Jachère en Afrique Tropicale, edited by: Ch. Floret, R. P., John Libbey, Paris, 169–199, 2001.
Archibald, S., Nickless, A., Govender, N., Scholes, R. J., and Lehsten, V.: Climate and the inter-annual variability of fire in southern Africa: a meta-analysis using long-term field data and satellite-derived burnt area data, Global Ecol. Biogeogr., 19, 794–809, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00568.x, 2010.
Baddeley, A. and Turner, R.: Spatstat: an R package for analyzing spatial point patterns, J. Stat. Softw., 12, 1–42, 2005.
Download
Short summary
When nearby forest and savanna stands are compared, they are not as structurally different as first seems. Moreover, savanna-forest transition zones typically occur at higher rainfall for South America than for Africa but with coexistence confined to a well-defined edaphic-climate envelope. With interacting soil cation-soil water storage–precipitations effects on canopy cover also observed we argue that both soils and climate influence the location of the two major tropical vegetation types.
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint