The persistent decline of patterned woody vegetation: The tiger bush in the context of the regional Sahel greening trend

Following 25 years of below average annual rainfall in the Sahel between 1970 and 1995, the return to more humid conditions has led to rapid postdrought recovery of the woody cover. However, the increase in the woody cover is not spatially homogeneous raising questions about the resilience of some woody vegetation types. Based on the analysis of field and remote sensing data collected on the tiger bush systems in the northern Sahel in Mali, this study noted the current and persistent degradation of these systems in the Sahel since the 1970s despite the recent improvement in rainfall since the mid‐1990s and the general Sahel re‐greening. Profound changes in the woody population pattern, tree density and cover, and floristic composition took place regardless of the site location along the south–north rainfall gradient. Associated with definite structural changes of the woody population, surface hydrology shifted from a sheet to concentrated run‐off accelerating the collapse of the patterned woody population. Currently, there is no evidence in favour of reversing the current degradation process, at least at a decadal scale, although very sparse recolonization by pioneer woody vegetation has been observed in the driest sites along recently formed gullies. These observations support the hypothesis of an ecosystem shift, with long‐term implications for the structure and functioning of the patterned vegetation, as well as the whole watershed landscape through increased run‐off leading to stronger water flows in enlarged wadis, increased soil erosion upstream and sediment deposition downstream, enhanced water storage in ponds, and greater recharge of aquifers, which is an illustration of the “Sahelian paradox”.     

Satellite‐based evidence for shrub and graminoid tundra expansion in northern Quebec from 1986 to 2010

Global vegetation models predict rapid poleward migration of tundra and boreal forest vegetation in response to climate warming. Local plot and air‐photo studies have documented recent changes in high‐latitude vegetation composition and structure, consistent with warming trends. To bridge these two scales of inference, we analyzed a 24‐year (1986–2010) Landsat time series in a latitudinal transect across the boreal forest‐tundra biome boundary in northern Quebec province, Canada. This region has experienced rapid warming during both winter and summer months during the last 40 years. Using a per‐pixel (30 m) trend analysis, 30% of the observable (cloud‐free) land area experienced a significant (P < 0.05) positive trend in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). However, greening trends were not evenly split among cover types. Low shrub and graminoid tundra contributed preferentially to the greening trend, while forested areas were less likely to show significant trends in NDVI. These trends reflect increasing leaf area, rather than an increase in growing season length, because Landsat data were restricted to peak‐summer conditions. The average NDVI trend (0.007 yr^?1) corresponds to a leaf‐area index (LAI) increase of ~0.6 based on the regional relationship between LAI and NDVI from the Moderate Resolution Spectroradiometer. Across the entire transect, the area‐averaged LAI increase was ~0.2 during 1986–2010. A higher area‐averaged LAI change (~0.3) within the shrub‐tundra portion of the transect represents a 20–60% relative increase in LAI during the last two decades. Our Landsat‐based analysis subdivides the overall high‐latitude greening trend into changes in peak‐summer greenness by cover type. Different responses within and among shrub, graminoid, and tree‐dominated cover types in this study indicate important fine‐scale heterogeneity in vegetation growth. Although our findings are consistent with community shifts in low‐biomass vegetation types over multi‐decadal time scales, the response in tundra and forest ecosystems to recent warming was not uniform.     

Moisture‐induced greening of the South Asia over the past three decades

South Asia experienced a weakening of summer monsoon circulation in the past several decades, resulting in rainfall decline in wet regions. In comparison with other tropical ecosystems, quantitative assessments of the extent and triggers of vegetation change are lacking in assessing climate‐change impacts over South Asia dominated by crops. Here, we use satellite‐based Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to quantify spatial–temporal changes in vegetation greenness, and find a widespread annual greening trend that stands in contrast to the weakening of summer monsoon circulation particularly over the last decade. We further show that moisture supply is the primary factor limiting vegetation activity during dry season or in dry region, and cloud cover or temperature would become increasingly important in wet region. Enhanced moisture conditions over dry region, coinciding with the decline in monsoon, are mainly responsible for the widespread greening trend. This result thereby cautions the use of a unified monsoon index to predict South Asia's vegetation dynamics. Current climate–carbon models in general correctly reproduce the dominant control of moisture in the temporal characteristics of vegetation productivity. But the model ensemble cannot exactly reproduce the spatial pattern of satellite‐based vegetation change mainly because of biases in climate simulations. The moisture‐induced greening over South Asia, which is likely to persist into the wetter future, has significant implications for regional carbon cycling and maintaining food security.     

Fire rather than nitrogen addition affects understory plant communities in the short term in a coniferous‐broadleaf mixed forest

Increasing fire risk and atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition have the potential to alter plant community structure and composition, with consequent impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. This study was conducted to examine short‐term responses of understory plant community to burning and N addition in a coniferous‐broadleaved mixed forest of the subtropical‐temperate transition zone in Central China. The experiment used a pair‐nested design, with four treatments (control, burning, N addition, and burning plus N addition) and five replicates. Species richness, cover, and density of woody and herbaceous plants were monitored for 3 years after a low‐severity fire in the spring of 2014. Burning, but not N addition, significantly stimulated the cover (+15.2%, absolute change) and density (+62.8%) of woody species as well as herb richness (+1.2 species/m², absolute change), cover (+25.5%, absolute change), and density (+602.4%) across the seven sampling dates from June 2014 to October 2016. Light availability, soil temperature, and prefire community composition could be primarily responsible for the understory community recovery after the low‐severity fire. The observations suggest that light availability and soil temperature are more important than nutrients in structuring understory plant community in the mixed forest of the subtropical‐temperate transition zone in Central China. Legacy woody and herb species dominated the understory vegetation over the 3 years after fire, indicating strong resistance and resilience of forest understory plant community and biodiversity to abrupt environmental perturbation.     

Archival photographs show no climate-induced changes in woody vegetation in the Sudan, 1943–1994*

An archive of satellite and aircraft photographs of the western Sudan showed no longterm (1943–1994) trends in the abundance of trees despite several decades of recent drought in this region. These data extend the extant historical record of vegetation change in the African Sahel, where recent fluctuations in vegetation greenness have been monitored with the NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer since 1980. Despite substantial population turnover, woody vegetation is not yet indicative of the recent climate changes in this region.     

Desertification in the Sahel: a reinterpretation

The impact of human management, in particular livestock grazing, on the vegetation cover of the Sahel is still debated. In a range of studies, satellite images have been used to analyze the development of the Sahelian vegetation cover over time. These studies did not reveal any significant degradation of the Sahel in the last two decades. In this paper, we examine the ecological assumptions underlying the use of satellite imagery to analyze degradation of the Sahel. Specifically, we analyze the variability of the rain‐use efficiency (RUE), which is often used as an indicator for the state of the vegetation cover. We detect a fundamental flaw in the way RUE has been handled in most remote sensing studies; they ignored the relation between annual rainfall variation and RUE. Because of the upward trend in annual rainfall that occurred during the 1980s and 1990s, this leads to a bias in the interpretation of the satellite images. In this paper, we show the importance of the variability in RUE for the analysis of remote sensing imagery of semiarid rangelands. Our analysis also shows that it is likely that there has been anthropogenic degradation of the Sahelian vegetation cover in the last two decades. This has important consequences for the debate on the impacts of grazing on semiarid rangelands. Furthermore, the occurrence of anthropogenic degradation is relevant to explain the magnitude of 20th century Sahelian droughts. The analyses also indicate that the population of the Sahel may be more vulnerable for droughts than currently assumed.     

Response of plant species and life form diversity to variable fire histories and biomass in the jarrah forest of south‐west Australia

Frequent fires reduce the abundance of woody plant species and favour herbaceous species. Plant species richness also tends to increase with decreasing vegetation biomass and cover due to reduced competition for light. We assessed the influence of variable fire histories and site biomass on the following diversity measures: woody and herbaceous species richness, overall species richness and evenness, and life form evenness (i.e. the relative abundance or dominance among six herbaceous and six woody plant life forms), across 16 mixed jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) and marri (Corymbia calophylla) forest stands in south‐west Australia. Fire frequency was defined as the total number of fires over a 30‐year period. Overall species richness and species evenness did not vary with fire frequency or biomass. However, there were more herbaceous species (particularly rushes, geophytes and herbs) where there were fewer shrubs and low biomass, suggesting that more herbaceous species coexist where dominance by shrubs is low. Frequently burnt plots also had lower number and abundance of shrub species. Life form evenness was also higher at both high fire frequency and low biomass sites. These results suggest that the impact of fire frequency and biomass on vegetation composition is mediated by local interactions among different life forms rather than among individual species. Our results demonstrate that measuring the variation in the relative diversity of different woody and herbaceous life forms is crucial to understanding the compositional response of forests and other structurally complex vegetation communities to changes in disturbance regime such as increased fire frequency.     

Spatio‐temporal variation in the effect of herbaceous layer on woody seedling survival in a Chilean mediterranean ecosystem

Questions: What is the effect of herbaceous layer on seedling establishment of three woody pioneer species in open areas of central Chile under a semi‐arid mediterranean climate? How do inter‐annual and habitat conditions (slope aspect) modulate this effect? Under high stress conditions such as the drier year and habitat (north‐facing slope) do herbs reach low abundance and have neutral effects on woody seedlings? Under medium stress conditions for these woody species, such as the wetter year and south‐facing slope, does the herbaceous layer reach greater abundance and have positive effects on woody seedlings due to increasing soil water content? Location: A watershed on the outskirts of Santiago, Chile, subjected to clearing of woody vegetation through firewood extraction and human‐set fires. Methods: In spring 2007, we set up 20 plots (3 m × 2 m). Half of each plot had herbs removed manually and by application of herbicide. In both halves of each plot, one seedling (8 months old) of each of the three native woody species (Colliguaya odorifera, Schinus polygamus and Quillaja saponaria) was planted and survival monitored subsequently. The experiment was repeated in two consecutive growing seasons (2007–2008 and 2008–2009) that differed significantly in total precipitation (152 and 256.5 mm, respectively), and replicated in two sites that differed in aspect and abiotic conditions: a moister south‐ and a drier north‐facing slope. Results: In the first and drier year, the herbaceous layer had low cover and no significant effect on seedling survival of woody species. During the second year, herbs had greater cover and a significant positive effect on spring survival of C. odorifera in the north‐facing slope, which was lost after summer. During this wetter year on the south‐facing slope, herb cover had a positive effect on survival of S. polygamus (mainly during summer). Conclusions: The role of mostly ruderal herbs on woody seedling establishment depended on the species, rainfall of the current year and slope aspect, and may be explained by soil moisture patterns. This suggests that the effect of ruderal herbs on woody seedlings shifts from neutral under high stress conditions produced by drought to positive under moderate stress conditions. Our results contribute to understand interactions between ruderal herbs and woody species under contrasting abiotic conditions. Therefore, control of the herbaceous layer may not be needed in restoration programmes for this region. Moreover, herbs may benefit restoration of woody cover in mesic habitats.     

Trend changes in global greening and browning: contribution of short‐term trends to longer‐term change

Field observations and time series of vegetation greenness data from satellites provide evidence of changes in terrestrial vegetation activity over the past decades for several regions in the world. Changes in vegetation greenness over time may consist of an alternating sequence of greening and/or browning periods. This study examined this effect using detection of trend changes in normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) satellite data between 1982 and 2008. Time series of 648 fortnightly images were analyzed using a trend breaks analysis (BFAST) procedure. Both abrupt and gradual changes were detected in large parts of the world, especially in (semi‐arid) shrubland and grassland biomes where abrupt greening was often followed by gradual browning. Many abrupt changes were found around large‐scale natural influences like the Mt Pinatubo eruption in 1991 and the strong 1997/98 El Niño event. The net global figure – considered over the full length of the time series – showed greening since the 1980s. This is in line with previous studies, but the change rates for individual short‐term segments were found to be up to five times higher. Temporal analysis indicated that the area with browning trends increased over time while the area with greening trends decreased. The Southern Hemisphere showed the strongest evidence of browning. Here, periods of gradual browning were generally longer than periods of gradual greening. Net greening was detected in all biomes, most conspicuously in croplands and least conspicuously in needleleaf forests. For 15% of the global land area, trends were found to change between greening and browning within the analysis period. This demonstrates the importance of accounting for trend changes when analyzing long‐term NDVI time series.     

Long‐term changes in semi‐arid vegetation: Invasion of an exotic perennial grass has larger effects than rainfall variability

Abstract. Questions: This paper examines the long‐term change in the herbaceous layer of semi‐arid vegetation since grazing ceased. We asked whether (1) there were differences in the temporal trends of abundance among growth forms of plants; (2) season of rainfall affected the growth form response; (3) the presence of an invasive species influenced the abundance and species richness of native plants relative to non‐invaded plots, and (4) abundance of native plants and/or species richness was related to the time it took for an invasive species to invade a plot. Location: Alice Springs, Central Australia. Methods: Long‐term changes in the semi‐arid vegetation of Central Australia were measured over 28 years (1976–2004) to partition the effects of rainfall and an invasive perennial grass. The relative abundance (biomass) of all species was assessed 25 times in each of 24 plots (8 m × 1 m) across two sites that traversed floodplains and adjacent foot slopes. Photo‐points, starting in 1972, were also used to provide a broader overview of a landscape that had been intensively grazed by cattle and rabbits prior to the 1970s. Species’abundance data were amalgamated into growth forms to examine their relationship with environmental variation in space and time. Environmental variables included season and amount of rainfall, fire history, soil variability and the colonization of the plots by the exotic perennial grass Cenchrus ciliaris (Buffel grass). Results: Constrained ordination showed that season of rainfall and landscape variables relating to soil depth strongly influenced vegetation composition when Cenchrus was used as a covariate. When Cenchrus was included in constrained ordination, it was strongly related to the decline of all native growth forms over time. Univariate comparisons of non‐invaded vs impacted plots over time revealed unequivocal evidence that Cenchrus had caused the decline of all native growth form groups and species richness. They also revealed a contrasting response of native plants to season of rainfall, with a strong response of native grasses to summer rainfall and forbs to winter rainfall. In the presence of Cenchrus these responses were strongly attenuated. Discussion: Pronounced changes in the composition of vegetation were interpreted as a response to removal of grazing pressure, fluctuations in rainfall and, most importantly, invasion of an exotic grass. Declines in herbaceous species abundance and richness in the presence of Cenchrus appear to be directly related to competition for resources. Indirect effects may also be causing the declines of some woody species from changed fire regimes as a result of increased fuel loads. We predict that Cenchrus will begin to alter landscape level processes as a result of the direct and indirect effects of Cenchrus on the demography of native plants when there is a switch from resource limited (rainfall) establishment of native plants to seed limited recruitment.     

Assessing the frequency and drivers of early‐greening in broad‐leaved woodlands along a latitudinal gradient in southern Africa

Savannas are the only deciduous system where new leaf flush pre‐empts the onset of suitable conditions for growth, a phenological phenomenon known as early‐greening. Limited understanding of the frequency and drivers of the occurrence of early‐greening in southern African savanna trees exists. We aimed to estimate the frequency of early‐greening events across southern Africa and investigated potential environmental drivers of green‐up. We selected and compared seven broad‐leaved woodland sites where Burkea africana was a dominant species using remotely sensed data along a latitudinal gradient from South Africa to Zambia. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values were extracted from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite imagery at each site from January 2002 to June 2014. Using an austral year (July 1st–June 30th), early‐greening was recorded if the green‐up start date occurred prior to the onset date of seasonal rainfall. A latitudinal gradient of early‐green‐up was detected across southern Africa (R² = 0.74) with the two most northerly (Zambian) sites showing the earliest and most consistent green‐up start dates (3 October ± 5.34 days). A strong latitudinal gradient was observed between the variability in the amount of rainfall in the first 6 months of green‐up and the green‐up start dates across southern Africa (R² = 0.92). Photoperiod appeared to play a role in areas where the onset of rainfall commenced late into the austral year. Mean maximum temperatures recorded 10 days prior to green‐up start dates suggested a potential threshold of about 35°C, which could drive early‐greening in the absence of rainfall. Correlations between the proportion of early‐greening years and the above mentioned environmental factors indicated that rainfall variability had the strongest influence over the observed phenological gradient (R² = 0.96). Understanding early‐greening in complex savanna systems is a vital step in furthering predictive phenological models under changing climatic conditions.     

Gall‐forming insect species richness along a non‐scleromorphic vegetation rainfall gradient in South Africa: The importance of plant community composition

Abstract Currently there is no single accepted hypothesis to explain gall‐forming insect species richness at a particular locality. Hygrothermal stress, soil nutrient availability, plant species richness, plant structural complexity, plant family or genus size, and host plant geographical range size have all been implicated in the determination of gall‐forming insect species richness. Previous studies of such richness at xeric sites have included predominantly scleromorphic vegetation, usually on nutrient‐poor soils. This study is the first to investigate gall‐forming insect species richness of xeric, non‐scleromorphic vegetation. Two habitat types were sampled at each of five localities across a rainfall gradient in the savanna biome of South Africa. The habitat types differed with respect to plant species composition and topography. Gall‐forming insect species richness did not increase with increasing hygrothermal stress or decreasing soil fertility. Rather, gall‐forming insect species richness was largely dependent on the presence of Terminalia sericea as well as other members of the Combretaceae and Mimosaceae. Plots where all these taxa were present had the highest gall‐forming insect species richness, up to 15 species, whereas plots with none of these taxa had a maximum of four galling‐insect species. Despite herb, shrub and tree strata not differing in gall‐forming insect species richness, insect galls were more common on woody than non‐woody plants. Also, stem galls were more frequent than apical or leaf galls. An alternative hypothesis to explain local gall‐forming insect species richness is suggested: galling insects may preferentially select those plant species with characteristics such as chemical toxicity, mechanical strength, degree of lignification or longevity that can be manipulated to benefit the galler. Thus plant community composition should be considered when attempting to explain gall‐forming insect species richness patterns.     

Ground-Truthing Sahelian Greening: Ethnographic and Spatial Evidence from Burkina Faso

Historically, the Sahel of West Africa has been considered synonymous with desertification. In recent decades, however, satellite images reveal patterns of enhanced vegetation termed the “greening of the Sahel.” This greening is well-documented but its mechanisms remain poorly understood. The Sahel is also a region emerging from a 30 year period of reduced rainfall in which several severe droughts occurred. As a response to droughts and land degradation, farmers have rehabilitated thousands of hectares of degraded soils by constructing low barriers of rock through widespread soil and water conservation (SWC) development projects. Remote sensing analyses suggest that these extensive soil conservation projects may explain greening in northern Burkina Faso. This study combines ethnographic fieldwork with the analysis of Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) data to test whether SWC investments contribute to greening. Ethnographic data reveal a tension between the perceptions of rural producers who feel that their SWC efforts contribute to greening and those of state officials who contend that SWC has only local impacts and that the regional landscape continues to degrade. Our analysis of GIS and RS data suggest that both perspectives are valid but contingent on the particular spatial and temporal scale used for analysis.     

Carbon cycle responses of semi‐arid ecosystems to positive asymmetry in rainfall

Recent evidence shows that warm semi‐arid ecosystems are playing a disproportionate role in the interannual variability and greening trend of the global carbon cycle given their mean lower productivity when compared with other biomes (Ahlström et al. 2015 Science, 348, 895). Using multiple observations (land‐atmosphere fluxes, biomass, streamflow and remotely sensed vegetation cover) and two state‐of‐the‐art biospheric models, we show that climate variability and extremes lead to positive or negative responses in the biosphere, depending on vegetation type. We find Australia to be a global hot spot for variability, with semi‐arid ecosystems in that country exhibiting increased carbon uptake due to both asymmetry in the interannual distribution of rainfall (extrinsic forcing), and asymmetry in the response of gross primary production (GPP) to rainfall change (intrinsic response). The latter is attributable to the pulse‐response behaviour of the drought‐adapted biota of these systems, a response that is estimated to be as much as half of that from the CO₂ fertilization effect during 1990–2013. Mesic ecosystems, lacking drought‐adapted species, did not show an intrinsic asymmetric response. Our findings suggest that a future more variable climate will induce large but contrasting ecosystem responses, differing among biomes globally, independent of changes in mean precipitation alone. The most significant changes are occurring in the extensive arid and semi‐arid regions, and we suggest that the reported increased carbon uptake in response to asymmetric responses might be contributing to the observed greening trends there.     

Arid vegetation in disequilibrium with livestock grazing: Evidence from long‐term exclosures

In recent decades, the conventional equilibrium paradigm for explaining rangeland vegetation dynamics has been challenged. Proponents of an alternative non‐equilibrium paradigm argue that in variable rangeland environments, external climatic events are critical to vegetation dynamics and there is little opportunity for plant–herbivore interactions to reach equilibrium. Understanding which paradigm more effectively describes an ecosystem has important consequences for management. In particular, some authors have argued that a focus on reducing stocking rates in non‐equilibrium systems may be futile, and management should be opportunistic in response to unpredictable rainfall events. We measured herbaceous biomass and plant species richness and abundance at five 14‐year exclosures on Innamincka Regional Reserve. Four were situated in the dunefields land system, and one on the Cooper Creek floodplain. We did not detect any significant differences between grazed and ungrazed treatments in total species richness or abundance, life form richness or abundance, or herbaceous biomass. Only one species, Portulaca oleracea, showed differences in abundance between treatments at more than one site, but the direction of these differences was not consistent. These results suggest that the non‐equilibrium paradigm more accurately describes vegetation dynamics in the dunefields and floodplains of north‐eastern South Australia. It is possible that some species had been lost from the study area prior to the establishment of the exclosures, thereby precluding recovery with protection from grazing; however, a regional analysis of the flora reveals little evidence of this. We argue that the dominance of ephemeral species confers resilience by limiting the development of strong feedbacks between grazing intensity and vegetation dynamics. Current grazing practices seem consistent with the conservation of plant species diversity across the dunefields and floodplains. Future studies should focus on the impacts of cattle grazing on areas of the landscape dominated by palatable perennials, as well as the small number of rare and potentially grazing‐sensitive species identified.     

Afforestation causes changes in post‐fire regeneration in native shrubland communities of northwestern Patagonia,Argentina

Question: What are the effects of fire in native shrubland communities and in pine plantations established in these shrublands? Location: Northern Patagonia, Argentina. Methods: We surveyed four sites in Chall‐Huaco valley, located in northwest Patagonia. Each site was a vegetation mosaic composed of an unburned Pinus ponderosa plantation, a plantation burned in 1996, and an unburned matorral and a matorral burned by the same fire. We recorded the cover of all vascular plant species. We also analysed species richness, total cover, proportion of exotic species, abundance of woody species and herb species, cover of exotic species, abundance of woody and herb species and differences in composition of species. For both shrubs and tree species we recorded the main strategy of regeneration (by resprouting or by seed). Results: We found that fire had different effects on native matorral and pine plantations. Five years after fire, plantations came to be dominated by herbs and exotic species, showing differences in floristic composition. In contrast, matorral communities remained very similar to unburned matorral in terms of species richness, proportion of woody species, and herb species and proportion of exotics. Also, pine plantations were primarily colonized by seedlings, while matorrals were primarily colonized by resprouting. Conclusions: Matorrals are highly fire resilient communities, and the practice of establishing plantations on matorrals produces a strong reduction in the capacity of matorral to return to its original state. The elimination of shrubs owing to the effect of plantations can hinder regeneration of native ecosystems. Burned plantations may slowly develop into ecosystems similar to the native ones, or they may produce a new ecosystem dominated by exotic herbs. This study shows that plantations of exotic conifers affect native vegetation even after they have been removed, as in this case by fire.     

Relationship between small-scale structural variability and simulated vegetation productivity across a regional moisture gradient in southern Africa

The observed variability in vegetation structure within landscapes was used as the basis for model estimates of the range of annual productivity of landscape patches at four sites along a moisture gradient in southern Africa ranging from 879 to 365 mm mean annual rainfall. Principal components of patch‐scale variability in leaf area, woody biomass and vertical leaf profiles were derived from intensive characterization of the small‐scale spatial structure of woody vegetation at each site. For each site, the mean and extremes of the principal component distribution parameterized an ecophysiology model of vegetation productivity. Vegetation was most heterogeneous at intermediate locations along the rainfall gradient. Variability in vegetation structure led to a range of annual productivity within one site (600 mm) that accounted for 68% of the total range in mean productivity across all sites. Patch‐scale estimates of tree productivity were found to be primarily correlated to annual rainfall (r²=0.66, P=0.001) and not woody leaf area (r²=0.01, P=0.75), while grass productivity was found to be related to values of woody leaf area (r²=0.77, P<0.001) and not annual rainfall (r²=0.11, P=0.29). This result indicates that life‐form interactions have a significant role in controlling vegetation productivity across the rainfall gradient. The findings of this study emphasize the importance of considering heterogeneity rather than mean structure when modeling productivity, particularly when considering dynamic vegetation structure, where differences between landscape patches may not be well represented in the mean structure.     

Multi‐decadal stability of woody cover in a mesic eucalypt savanna in the Australian monsoon tropics

Previous analyses of historical aerial photography and satellite imagery have shown thickening of woody cover in Australian tropical savannas, despite increasing fire frequency. The thickening has been attributed to increasing precipitation and atmospheric CO₂ enrichment. These analyses involved labour‐intensive, manual classification of vegetation, and hence were limited in the extent of the areas and the number of measurement times used. Object‐based, semi‐automated classification of historical sequences of aerial photography and satellite imagery has enabled the spatio‐temporal analysis of woody cover over entire landscapes, thus facilitating measurement, monitoring and attribution of drivers of change. Using this approach, we investigated woody cover change in 4000 ha of intact mesic savanna in the Ranger uranium lease and surrounding Kakadu National Park, using imagery acquired on 10 occasions between 1950 and 2016. Unlike previous studies, we detected no overall trend in woody cover through time. Some variation in cover was related to rainfall in the previous 12 months, and there were weak effects of fire in the year of image acquisition and the antecedent 4 years. Our local‐scale study showed a mesic eucalypt savanna in northern Australia has been resilient to short‐term variation in rainfall and fire activity; however, changes in canopy cover could have occurred in other settings. When applying this semi‐automated approach to similar studies of savanna dynamics, we recommend maximising the time depth and number of measurement years, standardising the time of year for image acquisition and using many plots of 1 ha in area, rather than fewer, larger plots.     

Valuation of local use and dynamics of 56 woody species in the Sahel

A quantitative ethnobotanical method based on structured interviews was used to evaluate local use-preferences and dynamics of practically all woody species in the Sahel of Burkina Faso. One hundred Fulani informants estimated the value of 56 woody species for food, firewood, construction, medicine, field trees, shade and fodder, as well as conservation priority, abundance and dynamics of each species. There was a large consistency in answers, but significant between-village differences existed. Gender and age of informants did not influence answers significantly. The present valuation method identified a large number of species important for local use and demonstrated a more varied plant use than seen from free-listing interviews. Furthermore, the Fulani informants described a decline of practically all woody species. The present valuation provided management-relevant information about plant use and vegetation change. The woody vegetation in the Sahel is currently without sufficient management to uphold a rational use of the vegetation, following the gradual disappearance of the traditional nomadic trekking routes that previously helped to ensure a rational use of the vegetation.     

Mapping gains and losses in woody vegetation across global tropical drylands

Woody vegetation in global tropical drylands is of significant importance for both the interannual variability of the carbon cycle and local livelihoods. Satellite observations over the past decades provide a unique way to assess the vegetation long‐term dynamics across biomes worldwide. Yet, the actual changes in the woody vegetation are always hidden by interannual fluctuations of the leaf density, because the most widely used remote sensing data are primarily related to the photosynthetically active vegetation components. Here, we quantify the temporal trends of the nonphotosynthetic woody components (i.e., stems and branches) in global tropical drylands during 2000–2012 using the vegetation optical depth (VOD), retrieved from passive microwave observations. This is achieved by a novel method focusing on the dry season period to minimize the influence of herbaceous vegetation and using MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data to remove the interannual fluctuations of the woody leaf component. We revealed significant trends (P < 0.05) in the woody component (VOD_wood) in 35% of the areas characterized by a nonsignificant trend in the leaf component (VOD_leaf modeled from NDVI), indicating pronounced gradual growth/decline in woody vegetation not captured by traditional assessments. The method is validated using a unique record of ground measurements from the semiarid Sahel and shows a strong agreement between changes in VOD_wood and changes in ground observed woody cover (r² = 0.78). Reliability of the obtained woody component trends is also supported by a review of relevant literatures for eight hot spot regions of change. The proposed approach is expected to contribute to an improved assessment of, for example, changes in dryland carbon pools.