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Conservation of soil organic carbon, biodiversity and the provision of other ecosystem services along climatic gradients in West Africa
E. Marks1, G. K. S. Aflakpui2, J. Nkem3, R. M. Poch1,4, M. Khouma5, K. Kokou6, R. Sagoe2, and M.-T. Sebastià1,4
1Forest Technology Center of Catalonia (CTFC), 25 280 Solsona, Spain
2Crops Research Institute (CSIR), P.O. BOX 3785, Kumasi, Ghana
3Center for Int. Forestry (CIFOR), Situ Gede, Sindang Barang, Bogor Barat 16 680, Indonesia
4University of Lleida, Rovira Roure 191, 25 198 Lleida, Spain
5United Nations Office for Project Services, BP 15 702 Dakar, Senegal
6Laboratory of Botany and Ecology, Faculty of Sciences, Univ. of Lomé, BP 1515, Lomé, Togo
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Abstract. Terrestrial carbon resources are major drivers of development in West Africa.
The distribution of these resources co-varies with ecosystem type and
rainfall along a strong Northeast-Southwest climatic gradient. Soil organic
carbon, a strong indicator of soil quality, has been severely depleted in
some areas by human activities, which leads to issues of soil erosion and
desertification, but this trend can be altered via appropriate management.
There is significant potential to enhance existing soil carbon stores in West
Africa, with benefits at the global and local scales, for atmospheric CO2
mitigation and supporting, and provisioning ecosystem services, respectively.
Three key factors impacting carbon stocks are addressed in this review:
climate, biotic factors, and human activities. Climate risks must be
considered in a framework of global change, especially in West Africa, where
landscape managers have few resources available to adapt to climatic
perturbations. Among biotic factors, biodiversity conservation paired with
carbon conservation may provide a pathway to sustainable development, as
evidence suggests that both may be inter-linked, and biodiversity
conservation is also a global priority with local benefits for ecosystem
resilience, biomass productivity, and provisioning services such as
foodstuffs. Finally, human management has largely been responsible for
reduced carbon stocks, but this trend can be reversed through the
implementation of appropriate carbon conservation strategies in the
agricultural sector, as shown by multiple studies. Owing to the strong
regional climatic gradient, country-level initiatives will need to consider
carbon sequestration approaches for multiple ecosystem types. Given the
diversity of environments, global policies must be adapted and strategised at
the national or sub-national levels to improve C storage above and
belowground. Initiatives of this sort must act locally at farmer scale, and
focus on ecosystem services rather than on carbon sequestration solely.
Discussion Paper (PDF, 1366 KB) Interactive Discussion (Closed, 3 Comments) Final Revised Paper (BG)
Citation: Marks, E., Aflakpui, G. K. S., Nkem, J., Poch, R. M., Khouma, M., Kokou, K., Sagoe, R., and Sebastià, M.-T.: Conservation of soil organic carbon, biodiversity and the provision of other ecosystem services along climatic gradients in West Africa, Biogeosciences Discuss., 5, 4413-4452, 2008. Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager
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