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Influence of climatic factors on tree growth in riparian forests in the humid and dry savannas of the Volta basin, Ghana

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The paper demonstrates the prospects and applications of dendrochronology for understanding climate change effects on riparian forests in the savanna landscape. 

Abstract

Riparian trees in savannas have a potential for dendro-climatic studies, but have been neglected hitherto. We examined ring-width series of Afzelia africana (evergreen) and Anogeissus leiocarpus (deciduous) to study the influence of climatic factors on the growth of riparian trees in the humid (HS) and dry (DS) savanna zones of the Volta basin in Ghana. A total of 31 stem discs belonging to A. africana and A. leiocarpus were selected from HS and DS to establish species-specific local chronologies of tree growth. Each individual of A. africana and A. leiocarpus from the two savanna sites showed distinct growth rings. Cross-dating of individual tree-ring patterns was successful using standard dendrochronological techniques. The mean annual growth rates of A. africana in the HS (1.38 ± 0.09) and DS (1.34 ± 0.08) were not statistically different. Furthermore, mean annual growth rate of A. leiocarpus in the DS (3.75 ± 0.27) was higher than in the HS (2.83 ± 0.16) suggesting that species in drier environment can have higher growth rates when sufficient soil moisture is available. The growth rates of both species at the same sites were different, which might indicate different water use strategies. High correlations of individual tree-ring series of A. africana and A. leiocarpus trees at HS and DS suggest a strong climatic forcing controlled by the seasonal movement of the inter-tropical convergence zone. The annual growth of A. africana and A. leiocarpus at both the HS and DS was significantly correlated with local temperature and precipitation. The negative correlations of the growth of the two tree species to global sea surface temperatures were however, indications that the growth of riparian forests can be impacted during El Niño-Southern Oscillation years. The result of our study shows that riparian trees in the humid and dry savanna zones of West Africa can be successfully used for dendrochronological studies.

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(Source: de Condappa and Lemoalle 2009)

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to express their sincere gratitude to the West African Climate Change and Adapted Landuse programme of the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research for providing financial support to the corresponding author to carry-out this research as part of his postgraduate studies. Thanks to the technical staff, Melanie Viehauser, Iris Burchardt, Roswitha Höfner-Stich and doctoral students in the dendrolab of the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nurnberg, Germany for their support during the laboratory works of the corresponding author in Germany.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. WASCAL Graduate Research Programme on Climate Change and Biodiversity, Université Felix Houphouët Boigny, Abidjan, Ivory Coast

    Emmanuel Amoah Boakye, Dibi N’da Hyppolite, François N. Kouamé & Daouda Kone

  2. World Agroforestry Center, Nairobi, Kenya

    Aster Gebrekirstos

  3. Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

    Emmanuel Amoah Boakye & Victor Rex Barnes

  4. Institute of Biosciences, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany

    Stefan Porembski

  5. Institute of Geography, Friedrich‐Alexander‐University Erlangen‐Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany

    Achim Bräuning

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  1. Emmanuel Amoah Boakye
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  2. Aster Gebrekirstos
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Correspondence to Emmanuel Amoah Boakye.

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Boakye, E.A., Gebrekirstos, A., Hyppolite, D.N. et al. Influence of climatic factors on tree growth in riparian forests in the humid and dry savannas of the Volta basin, Ghana. Trees 30, 1695–1709 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-016-1401-x

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