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| Titel |
Conservation of soil organic carbon, biodiversity and the provision of other ecosystem services along climatic gradients in West Africa |
| VerfasserIn |
E. Marks, G. K. S. Aflakpui, J. Nkem, R. M. Poch, M. Khouma, K. Kokou, R. Sagoe, M.-T. Sebastià |
| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| ISSN |
1726-4170
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| Digitales Dokument |
URL |
| Erschienen |
In: Biogeosciences ; 6, no. 8 ; Nr. 6, no. 8 (2009-08-31), S.1825-1838 |
| Datensatznummer |
250003964
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 copernicus.org/bg-6-1825-2009.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Terrestrial carbon resources are major drivers of development in West
Africa. The distribution of these resources co-varies with ecosystem type
and rainfall along a strong Northeast-Southwest climatic gradient. Soil
organic carbon, a strong indicator of soil quality, has been severely
depleted in some areas by human activities, which leads to issues of soil
erosion and desertification, but this trend can be altered with appropriate
management. There is significant potential to enhance existing soil carbon
stores in West Africa, with benefits at the global and local scale, for
atmospheric CO2 mitigation as well as supporting and provisioning
ecosystem services. Three key factors impacting carbon stocks are addressed
in this review: climate, biotic factors, and human activities. Climate risks
must be considered in a framework of global change, especially in West
Africa, where landscape managers have few resources available to adapt to
climatic perturbations. Among biotic factors, biodiversity conservation
paired with carbon conservation may provide a pathway to sustainable
development, and biodiversity conservation is also a global priority with
local benefits for ecosystem resilience, biomass productivity, and
provisioning services such as foodstuffs. Finally, human management has
largely been responsible for reduced carbon stocks, but this trend can be
reversed through the implementation of appropriate carbon conservation
strategies in the agricultural sector, as shown by multiple studies. Owing
to the strong regional climatic gradient, country-level initiatives will
need to consider carbon sequestration approaches for multiple ecosystem
types. Given the diversity of environments, global policies must be adapted
and strategies developed at the national or sub-national levels to improve
carbon storage above and belowground. Initiatives of this sort must act
locally at farmer scale, and focus on ecosystem services rather than on
carbon sequestration solely. |
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