Effects of climate, habitat and land use on the cover and diversity of the savanna herbaceous layer in Burkina Faso, West Africa
Effects of climate, habitat and land use on the cover and diversity of the savanna herbaceous layer in Burkina Faso, West Africa
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DOI：
10.1007/s12224-017-9289-9
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发表时间：
2017-07
影响因子：
1.2
通讯作者：
Desiree Jakubka;Anna Leßmeister;Karen Hahn;S. Traoré;K. Schumann;A. Thiombiano;M. Bernhardt‐Römermann
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Desiree Jakubka;Anna Leßmeister;Karen Hahn;S. Traoré;K. Schumann;A. Thiombiano;M. Bernhardt‐Römermann
草本植物占热带稀树草原生态系统总生物量的四分之三以上。然而，哪些环境因素主要驱动了草本植物物种的多样性仍存在争议。在这项研究中，我们调查了气候，栖息地和土地利用对物种丰富度和覆盖在布基纳法索的西非热带草原生态系统的影响。为了更广泛的理解，我们分析了最重要的分类群体的草本层（禾本科，莎草科，豆科s.l.和幼龄木本植物）对上述环境因子的响应。我们发现光限制的树木或灌木和养分的可用性是变量，主要能够解释物种丰富度的差异，而降水和土壤持水能力，一般来说，驱动物种覆盖。然而，具体而言，哪些环境参数影响物种丰富度和覆盖不同的分类群体。莎草科物种的物种丰富度取决于水分的可用性，而在持水力高的土壤中发现了高的莎草科覆盖。莎草科植物能够耐受积水。相比之下，禾本科物种覆盖度较高，在干燥的栖息地，物种丰富度下降，较高的年平均降水量。豆科植物物种丰富度和覆盖度都较高的公共领域和桑迪土壤。这项研究表明，物种丰富度和物种覆盖度都是描述群落组成的重要方面，应该进行检查，因为它们有时受到不同环境条件的影响。区分稀树草原生态系统中最重要的分类群，可以增加对影响草本植被组成的重要生态过程的理解。
Herbaceous plants account for more than three-fourths of the total biomass in savanna ecosystems. However, which environmental factors mainly drive the biodiversity of herbaceous species is still under debate. In this study, we investigated the influence of climate, habitat and land use on species richness and cover in the West African savanna ecosystems of Burkina Faso. For a broader understanding, we analysed responses of the most important taxonomical groups of the herbaceous layer (Poaceae, Cyperaceae, Fabaceae s.l. and juvenile woody species) to the above mentioned environmental factors. We found light limitation by trees or shrubs and nutrient availability to be the variables that were mainly able to explain the differences in species richness, whereas precipitation and soil water-holding capacity, in general, drive species cover. However, specifically which environmental parameters influenced species richness and cover differed between taxonomical groups. Species richness of Cyperaceae species depended on water availability, while high Cyperaceae cover was found in soils with high water-holding capacity. Cyperaceae species are able to tolerate stagnant water. By contrast, Poaceae species cover was higher in dry habitats, and species richness declined with higher mean annual precipitation. Fabaceae species richness and cover were both higher in communal areas and sandy soils. This study revealed that both species richness and species cover, important aspects to describe the community composition, should be examined, as they are driven by sometimes different environmental conditions. Differentiating between the most important taxonomical groups of the savanna ecosystem increases the understanding in the important ecological processes that effect the herbaceous vegetation composition.