Carbon Isotopes of Riparian Forests Trees in the Savannas of the Volta Sub-Basin of Ghana Reveal Contrasting Responses to Climatic and Environmental Variations
Boakye EA, Gebrekirstos A, Hyppolite DN, Barnes VR, Porembski S, Bräuning A (2019)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2019
Journal
Book Volume: 10
Journal Issue: 3
DOI: 10.3390/f10030251
Abstract
Stable isotopes of tree rings are frequently used as proxies in climate change studies. However, species-specific relationships between climate and tree-ring stable isotopes have not yet been studied in riparian forests in the savannas of West Africa. Four cross-dated discs, each of Afzelia africana Sm. (evergreen) and Anogeissus leiocarpus (DC.) Guill. & Perr. (deciduous) in the humid (HSZ) and dry (DSZ) savanna zones of the Volta basin in Ghana were selected from a larger tree-ring dataset to assess the relationships between the tree-ring carbon isotope composition (delta C-13 values) and climatic parameters. The atmospherically corrected delta C-13 values of both studied species showed that A. africana was enriched in C-13 compared to A. leiocarpus. Strong correlations were found between delta C-13 values of A. africana and A. leiocarpus with temperature, but weak correlations with precipitation. Spatial correlation analysis revealed significant relationships between delta C-13 values of both tree species and Sea Surface Temperatures in the Gulf of Guinea in the southern Atlantic Ocean. The results suggest that the carbon isotope composition of riparian trees in the Volta river basin has a potential to reconstruct climate variability and to assess tree ecological responses to climate change.
Authors with CRIS profile
Involved external institutions
Universität Rostock
Germany (DE)
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology
Ghana (GH)
World Agroforestry Centre
Kenya (KE)
Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (UFHB)
Côte D'Ivoire (CI)
Germany (DE)
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology
Ghana (GH)
World Agroforestry Centre
Kenya (KE)
Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (UFHB)
Côte D'Ivoire (CI)
How to cite
APA:
Boakye, E.A., Gebrekirstos, A., Hyppolite, D.N., Barnes, V.R., Porembski, S., & Bräuning, A. (2019). Carbon Isotopes of Riparian Forests Trees in the Savannas of the Volta Sub-Basin of Ghana Reveal Contrasting Responses to Climatic and Environmental Variations. Forests, 10(3). https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f10030251
MLA:
Boakye, Emmanuel Amoah, et al. "Carbon Isotopes of Riparian Forests Trees in the Savannas of the Volta Sub-Basin of Ghana Reveal Contrasting Responses to Climatic and Environmental Variations." Forests 10.3 (2019).
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