Archibald, SScholes, RJ2007-06-122007-06-122007Archibald, S and Scholes, RJ. 2007. Leaf green-up in a semi-arid African savanna - separating tree and grass responses to environmental cues. Journal of Vegetation Science, Vol. 18, pp 583-5941100-9233http://hdl.handle.net/10204/528http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=24946042&site=ehost-live&scope=siteThe savannas of Africa are dominated by deciduous trees and perennial but seasonal grasses. Virtually nothing is known about the factors that trigger the onset of greening, or the time-course of leaf-drop in either of these main plant functional types in this biome. The Modis Terra LAI and NDVI dataset (MOD15A2 and MOD13A2) were used to provide a five year record of greenness for a 7 Km X 7 km square centred on the Skukuza flux site (25 Degrees S, 31 Degrees E) between 2000 and 2005. The seasonal and inter-annual patterns of leaf display of trees and grasses were described, using ecological data to un-mix the NDVI of each life form from the total landscape NDVI. The data shows that at a landscape scale savanna trees have a less viable phenological cycle (within and between years) than grasses. Realistic biophysical models of these systems need to take this into account, and using climatic data to predict these dynamics seems to be a feasible approach.enSavannasEnvironmental aspectsBiophysical aspectsDeciduous treesGrassesClimatological dataLeaf green-up in a semi-arid African savanna - separating tree and grass responses to environmental cuesArticleArchibald, S., & Scholes, R. (2007). Leaf green-up in a semi-arid African savanna - separating tree and grass responses to environmental cues. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/528Archibald, S, and RJ Scholes "Leaf green-up in a semi-arid African savanna - separating tree and grass responses to environmental cues." (2007) http://hdl.handle.net/10204/528Archibald S, Scholes R. Leaf green-up in a semi-arid African savanna - separating tree and grass responses to environmental cues. 2007; http://hdl.handle.net/10204/528.TY - Article AU - Archibald, S AU - Scholes, RJ AB - The savannas of Africa are dominated by deciduous trees and perennial but seasonal grasses. Virtually nothing is known about the factors that trigger the onset of greening, or the time-course of leaf-drop in either of these main plant functional types in this biome. The Modis Terra LAI and NDVI dataset (MOD15A2 and MOD13A2) were used to provide a five year record of greenness for a 7 Km X 7 km square centred on the Skukuza flux site (25 Degrees S, 31 Degrees E) between 2000 and 2005. The seasonal and inter-annual patterns of leaf display of trees and grasses were described, using ecological data to un-mix the NDVI of each life form from the total landscape NDVI. The data shows that at a landscape scale savanna trees have a less viable phenological cycle (within and between years) than grasses. Realistic biophysical models of these systems need to take this into account, and using climatic data to predict these dynamics seems to be a feasible approach. DA - 2007 DB - ResearchSpace DP - CSIR KW - Savannas KW - Environmental aspects KW - Biophysical aspects KW - Deciduous trees KW - Grasses KW - Climatological data LK - https://researchspace.csir.co.za PY - 2007 SM - 1100-9233 T1 - Leaf green-up in a semi-arid African savanna - separating tree and grass responses to environmental cues TI - Leaf green-up in a semi-arid African savanna - separating tree and grass responses to environmental cues UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10204/528 ER -