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| Biogeosciences Discuss., 5, 4071-4105, 2008 www.biogeosciences-discuss.net/5/4071/2008/ © Author(s) 2008. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Precipitation as driver of carbon fluxes in 11 African ecosystems 1MPI for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany 2Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystems Analysis, Lund University Sölvegatan 12, 223 62 Lund, Sweden 3Natural Resources and the Environment, CSIR, P.O. Box 395, Pretoria, South Africa 4CIRAD, Persyst, UPR80, TA B-80/D, 34 398 Montpellier Cedex 5, France 5UR2PI, BP 1291, Pointe-Noire, The Republic of Congo 6INRA-EPHYSE, BP 81, 33 883 Villenave d'Ornon Cedex, France 7UMR Hydrosciences, IRD, BP 64 501, 34 394 Monpellier Cedex 5, France 8Atmospheric Environmental Research Division, Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany 9CESBIO, 18 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31 401 Toulouse Cedex 9, France 10Agricultural Research Cooperation, El Obeid Research Station, P.O. Box 429, 51 111 El Obeid, Sudan 11Department of Ecology and Resource Management, Center for Development Research, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany 12Zambia Meteorological Department, Haile Sellasie Avenue, City Airport, P.O. Box 30 200, 10 101 Lusaka, Zambia 13Nature Conservation and Plant Ecology Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalse Steeg 3a, 6708 PD Wageningen, The Netherlands 14Professor visitante USP (ESALQ e IAG), Departamento de Ciêncas de Atmosféricas/IAG/Universidade de Sao Paulo, Rua do Matao, 1226 - Cidade Universitária, Sao Paulo, Brasil 15Earth and Biosphere Institute, School of Geography, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK |  |
Values for maximum net carbon assimilation rates (photosynthesis) ranged from 12 μmol CO2 m−2 s−1 in a dry, open Acacia savanna (C3-plants) up to 40 μmol CO2 m−2 s−1 for a tropical moist grassland. Maximum carbon assimilation rates were highly correlated with mean annual rainfall (R2=0.89). Maximum photosynthetic uptake rates were positively related to satellite-derived fAPAR. Ecosystem respiration was dependent on temperature at all sites, and was additionally dependent on soil water content at sites receiving less than 1000 mm of rain per year. All included ecosystems, except the Congolese grassland, showed a strong decrease in 30-min assimilation rates with increasing water vapour pressure deficit above 2.0 kPa.
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Citation: Merbold, L., Ardö, J., Arneth, A., Scholes, R. J., Nouvellon, Y., de Grandcourt, A., Archibald, S., Bonnefond, J. M., Boulain, N., Bruemmer, C., Brueggemann, N., Cappelaere, B., Ceschia, E., El-Khidir, H. A. M., El-Tahir, B. A., Falk, U., Lloyd, J., Kergoat, L., Le Dantec, V., Mougin, E., Muchinda, M., Mukelabai, M. M., Ramier, D., Roupsard, O., Timouk, F., Veenendaal, E. M., and Kutsch, W. L.: Precipitation as driver of carbon fluxes in 11 African ecosystems, Biogeosciences Discuss., 5, 4071-4105, 2008. Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager
