Are there Detectable Discrete Boundaries between African Biomes ?

The analysis of global vegetation index data has brought new views on the seasonal and interannual variability in ecological conditions at the scale of biomes. These data have been used to produce broad scale land-cover maps and to asess biomass production and overall vegetation conditions. Given the large seasonal, interannual and spatial variations in ecosystem attributes (in particular in Africa) , is it reasonable to consider that, for mapping purposes, there are identifiable biome boundaries which are discrete in space and stable in time. The cover shows a counter plot of a 9 years time series of Ts/NDVI monthly composites for a transect (15.00 N to 20.00 S) along the 22.00 E meridian. The plot identifies the surface biophysical state, from low vergetation activity (in dark brown) to high vegetation activity (in dark green). The figure shows also the correspondence between sharp discontinuities in vegetation dynamics and biome bounderies from the biome map of Africa.

MALINGREAU Jean-Paul;  EHRLICH Daniele;  LAMBIN Eric F.; 

1996-04-02

JRC13115