Drivers of forage provision and erosion control in West African savannas—A macroecological perspective

Abstract

Rangelands’ ability to provide ecosystem services (ESs) depends on ecosystem properties and functions, which are interactively driven by biophysical and land-use drivers. In West Africa’s savanna rangelands, the relative importance of these drivers for ES supply is still poorly understood, hampering the identification of appropriate management strategies. In this context, trade-offs between the ES of forage provision and the regulating ES of erosion control are of particular importance. Taking a macroecological perspective, we aimed at detecting consistent patterns in ES drivers and identifying good predictors. The study area comprises a steep gradient of climatic aridity across West Africa’s Sudanian savannas from northern Ghana to central Burkina Faso, in combination with local gradients of land-use intensity and topo-edaphic conditions. We used aboveground biomass, metabolisable energy and metabolisable energy yield as proxies for forage provision, and the cover of perennials in the grass layer as a proxy for erosion control. Linear mixed-effect models and model selection were used to test relationships between multiple environmental variables and ES proxies. We found differential responses of ES proxies to environmental drivers. Vegetation properties were important for all ESs. Antecedent rainfall was the most important predictor of aboveground biomass, while plants’ phenology and land-use were most important for metabolisable energy. Environmental variables (such as aridity, soil properties and grazing intensity) mediated via vegetation properties were the most important predictors of erosion control followed by the direct effect of climatic aridity. Our finding that antecedent rainfall was more important for forage provision than climatic aridity implies that the effects of long-term climatic aridity may in a given year be overridden by current season’s precipitation particularly in case of a good rain year. The observed importance of land-use and vegetation properties implies that well-conceived adaptation strategies could mitigate potential negative effects of climate change.