Responses of Herbaceous Savanna Vegetation to Land Use and Habitat Conditions: Investigations along a Climatic Gradient in West Africa

稀树草原生态系统覆盖了地球陆地的八分之一。它们的特点是草本植物和数量较少的木本物种共同占主导地位。在西非，热带草原生态系统的物种组成被认为会因气候和土地使用的变化而发生巨大变化。然而，很少有人知道这些因素如何相互作用，影响植被。以前的研究主要集中在木本物种;缺乏草本物种的研究，尽管这些物种占稀树草原生物量的75-90%。在这项研究中，我们将集中在草本植被的土地利用和气候变量在不同生境的相互作用的响应。首先，我们将确定一般草本植物的反应模式和过程中使用的功能性状的方法。我们假设具有相似生态特征的植物以相似的方式对环境变化做出反应。其次，我们将监测最具优势的草本稀树草原物种的光合能力参数，作为竞争力的生态生理评估;这将在不同的气候条件、土地使用制度和栖息地中进行。最后，使用代表不同生活史类型的草本物种的子集，我们计划调查当地土地利用强度和气候如何影响植物种群，以深入了解典型草本稀树草原物种的发展。

Savanna ecosystems cover one eighth of the earth's land. They are characterised by the co-dominance of herbaceous vegetation and less-abundant woody species. In West Africa, savanna ecosystems are thought to undergo dramatic alterations in species composition in response to changes in climate and land use. However, little is known about how these factors interact to affect vegetation. Previous studies have focused primarily on woody species; studies of herbaceous species are lacking, despite the fact that these species comprise 75–90% of the biomass of the savanna. In this study, we will focus on the responses of herbaceous vegetation to the interaction of land use and climate variables in different habitats. First, we will identify general herbaceous species response patterns and processes using a functional trait approach. We assume that plants with similar ecological traits respond to environmental changes in similar ways. Second, we will monitor photosynthetic capacity parameters in the most dominant herbaceous savanna species as an eco-physiological assessment of competitive strength; this will be conducted in varying climatic conditions, land use regimes and habitats Finally, using a subset of herbaceous species representing different life-history types, we plan to investigate how local land-use intensity and climate affect plant populations to gain insights into the development of typical herbaceous savanna species.