Life Sciences Commons^™

Using Phenology To Unravel Differential Soil Water Use And Productivity In A Semiarid Savanna, Blake Steiner, Russell L. Scott, Jia Hu, Natasha Mcbean, Andrew Richardson, David J. P. Moore

University Administration Publications

Savannas are water-limited ecosystems characterized by two dominant plant types: trees and an understory primarily made up grass. Different phenology and root structures of these plant types complicate how savanna primary productivity responds to changes in water availability. We tested the hypothesis that productivity in savannas is controlled by the temporal and vertical distribution of soil water content (SWC) and differences in growing season length of understory and tree plant functional types. To quantify the relationship between tree, understory, and savanna-wide phenology and productivity, we used PhenoCam and satellite observations surrounding an eddy covariance tower at a semiarid savanna site …