Informations et ressources scientifiques
sur le développement des zones arides et semi-arides

Titre : What happens during drought ? – Understanding the unknown role of drought on vegetation phenology and CO2 uptake in African savannas

Pays/Région : Savanne Africaine

Date : 1 January 2018–31 December 2021

Identifiant : 2018-00430_VR

Présentation
The ecology and stability of tropical savannas are of scientific importance due to their dominant role in the global carbon cycle, susceptibility to drought, high biodiversity, and human dependence on the ecosystem services they provide.

However, there is little information about the ecological processes that occur during periods of drought and how they impact CO2 uptake subsequent growing seasons. Because tropical savannas cover one-fifth of the Earth’s surface, satellite remote sensing is an essential tool for studying these ecosystems. This indispensability of remote sensing manifests itself not only in the large spatial coverage of Earth observation (EO) data, but also in the opportunities it offers for the multi-scalar and multi-temporal analysis necessary to study these complex ecosystems. This project harnesses this opportunity through innovative use of state-of-the-art EO data and derived products from the European Copernicus program, and the European Space Agency’s Climate Change Initiative. In addition to EO data, this project will integrate site-level biometeorological data from the vast FLUXNET network that hosts data from across sub-Saharan Africa. This project comprises three core objectives that will be achieved through a series of research questions. The coupled effects of climate change and human pressure will inevitably cause decline in ecosystem function in savannas, which will necessitate integrated cutting-edge research such as the one proposed here.

The content on this page has been delivered from the project’s funder.

Coordination : Lund University

Financement : Swedish Research Council
Budget : 3,150,000 kr

Swecris project database