Year: 2022
Type: article
Abstract: Savanna ecosystems were the landscapes for human evolution and are vital to modern Sub-Saharan African food security, yet the fundamental drivers of climate and ecology in these ecosystems remain unclear. Here we generate plant-wax isotope and dust flux records to explore the mechanistic drivers of the Northwest African monsoon, and to assess ecosystem responses to changes in monsoon rainfall and atmospheric pCO 2 . We show that monsoon rainfall is controlled by low-latitude insolation gradients and that while increases in precipitation are associated with expansion of grasslands into desert landscapes, changes in pCO 2 predominantly drive the C 3 /C 4 composition of savanna ecosystems.
Source: Nature Communications
Institutions: Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Paris-Saclay, Geosciences Paris-Saclay, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Université de Lille, Laboratoire d’Océanologie et de Géosciences, Macalester College, Environnements et Paléoenvironnements Océaniques et Continentaux, Université Bordeaux-I, University of California, Santa Cruz
Language: English
Subfield: Atmospheric Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDGs: Climate action, Life on land
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $5,890
Funder: National Science Foundation
OpenAlex ID: W4283209224