Temporal and spatial variability of grass productivity in the central namib desert
TLDR
In this article, the authors investigated the production of grass on the gravel plains of the Central Namib Desert, Namibia, during 10 rainfall seasons sampled between 1989-2003, and compared two different methods and found that a less accurate rapid assessment of grass cover correlat- ed well with measurements of biomass.Abstract:
The production of grass was investigated on the gravel plains of the Central Namib Desert, Namibia, during 10 rainfall seasons sampled between 1989-2003. The aim was to evaluate the rainfall-productivity relationship, to elucidate the relationship between temporal and spatial variability, and to examine the spatial scale of patchiness. We compared two different methods and found that a less accurate rapid assessment of grass cover correlat- ed well with measurements of biomass. Our data were in agreement with previous determina- tions of the desert end of the curve of grassland productivity, and productivity was closely related to the rainfall of the particular season. There was high variability between years at study sites, especially in the west (CV=279%), where it rained more seldom than in the east (CV=86%). During all years rainfall was very patchy at a spatial scale of 5 km, which appar- ently reflected the storm path of individual rain clouds. Long-term monitoring should be continued in order to detect changes of pattern in this rainfall-driven system.read more
Citations
More filters
Book
Global deserts outlook
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a balanced picture of deserts and show that they are more than landscapes which are the end result of the process of desertification, and that they represent unique ecosystems which support significant plant and animal biodiversity.
Journal ArticleDOI
The role of rare rainstorms in the formation of calcic soil horizons on alluvial surfaces in extreme deserts
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors highlight the importance of daily to seasonal rainfall characteristics in influencing soil-moisture regime in deserts, and have important implications for the use of key desert soil properties as proxies in paleoclimatology.
Journal ArticleDOI
The last millennium largest floods in the hyperarid Kuiseb River basin, Namib Desert
Tamir Grodek,Gerardo Benito,B. A. Botero,Yael Jacoby,Naomi Porat,Itai Haviv,Gert C. Cloete,Y. Enzel +7 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors characterize the largest floods and their changing frequency and magnitudes using palaeohydrological methods along 120 km of the rivers canyon 35 palaeoflood deposit sites were identified.
Journal ArticleDOI
Uncertainty in parameterisation and model structure affect simulation results in coupled ecohydrological models
TL;DR: In this article, a conceptual eco-hydrological model was developed and applied to investigate the effects of model structure and parameter uncertainty on the simulation of vegetation structure and hydrological dynamics.
References
More filters
Book
Aims and Methods of Vegetation Ecology
TL;DR: Aims and methods of vegetation ecology are studied to propose new strategies for the sustainable management of vegetation in the arid areas.
Book
Climatic change and variability in southern Africa
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider the ways in which southern Africa's climates have changed over three thousand million years, and over the period of metereological record, and propose a circulation model to account for palaeoclimatic changes over the subcontinent over the last twenty-five millenia.
Journal ArticleDOI
Phenological Events and Their Environmental Triggers in Mojave Desert Ecosystems
TL;DR: In this article, the relationship between rainfall and phenological events in the Mojave desert has been investigated for 13 years in the southern Nevada region of the United States, and a flow diagram for the relationship is presented.
Journal ArticleDOI
Desertification alters patterns of aboveground net primary production in Chihuahuan ecosystems
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated patterns of aboveground plant biomass and net primary production in five ecosystem types of the Jornada Basin Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site.
Journal ArticleDOI
The spottiness of rainfall in a desert area
TL;DR: In this article, the authors found that between one half and two thirds of the total rainfall in the southernmost, arid part of Israel is of a highly localized type, coming mostly from small convective cells.