Precipitation–fire functional interactions control biomass stocks and carbon exchanges across the world's largest savanna

Williams, Mathew; Milodowski, David T.; Smallman, T. Luke; Dexter, Kyle G.; Hegerl, Gabi C.; McNicol, Iain M.; O'Sullivan, Michael; Roesch, Carla M.; Ryan, Casey M.; Sitch, Stephen; Valade, Aude

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1597-2025

Articles | Volume 22, issue 6

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1597-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1597-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 22, issue 6

Research article

|

27 Mar 2025

Research article |

| 27 Mar 2025

Precipitation–fire functional interactions control biomass stocks and carbon exchanges across the world's largest savanna

Mathew Williams, David T. Milodowski, T. Luke Smallman, Kyle G. Dexter, Gabi C. Hegerl, Iain M. McNicol, Michael O'Sullivan, Carla M. Roesch, Casey M. Ryan, Stephen Sitch, and Aude Valade

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1597-2025-supplement

Data sets

Monthly Net Biome Exchange for the Southern African Woodlands 2006-2017 estimated using the CARDAMOM model-data fusion framework M. Williams et al. https://doi.org/10.7488/ds/7776

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Short summary

Southern African woodlands are important in both regional and global carbon cycles. A new carbon analysis created by combining satellite data with ecosystem modelling shows that the region has a neutral C balance overall but with important spatial variations. Patterns of biomass and C balance across the region are the outcome of climate controls on production and vegetation–fire interactions, which determine the mortality of vegetation and spatial variations in vegetation function.