Articles | Volume 22, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1597-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1597-2025
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

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Cited articles

Alvarado, S. T., Andela, N., Silva, T. S., and Archibald, S.: Thresholds of fire response to moisture and fuel load differ between tropical savannas and grasslands across continents, Global Ecol. Biogeogr., 29, 331–344, 2020. 
Archibald, S. A., Kirton, A., van der Merwe, M. R., Scholes, R. J., Williams, C. A., and Hanan, N.: Drivers of inter-annual variability in Net Ecosystem Exchange in a semi-arid savanna ecosystem, South Africa, Biogeosciences, 6, 251–266, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-6-251-2009, 2009a. 
Archibald, S., Roy, D. P., Van Wilgen, B. W., and Scholes, R. J.: What limits fire? An examination of drivers of burnt area in Southern Africa, Glob. Change Biol., 15, 613–630, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2008.01754.x, 2009b. 
Archibald, S., Lehmann, C. E. R., Gómez-Dans, J. L., and Bradstock, R. A.: Defining pyromes and global syndromes of fire regimes, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 110, 6442–6447, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1211466110, 2013. 
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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.
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