Climate and soil effects on tree species diversity and aboveground carbon patterns in semi-arid tree savannas.

ABSTRACT: Climatic and edaphic effects are increasingly being discussed in the context of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning. Here we use data from West African semi-arid tree savannas and contrasting climatic conditions (lower vs. higher mean annual precipitation-MAP and mean annual temperature-MAT) to (1) determine how climate modulates the effects of species richness on aboveground carbon (AGC); (2) explore how species richness and AGC relate with soil variables in these contrasting climatic conditions; and (3) assess how climate and soil influence directly, and/or indirectly AGC through species richness and stand structural attributes such as tree density and size variation. We find that greater species richness is generally associated with higher AGC, but more strongly in areas with higher MAP,

SUBMITTER: Mensah S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10352281 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature