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The supply and demand of net primary production in the Sahel

Abdi, Hakim LU orcid ; Seaquist, Jonathan LU ; Tenenbaum, David LU ; Eklundh, Lars LU orcid and Ardö, Jonas LU orcid (2014) In Environmental Research Letters 9(9). p.11-094003
Abstract
Net primary production (NPP) is the principal source of energy for ecosystems and, by extension, human populations that depend on them. The relationship between the supply and demand of NPP is important for the assessment of socio-ecological vulnerability. We present an analysis of the supply and demand of NPP in the Sahel using NPP estimates from the MODIS sensor and agri-environmental data from FAOSTAT. This synergistic approach allows for a spatially explicit estimation of human impact on ecosystems. We estimated the annual amount of NPP required to derive food, fuel and feed between 2000 and 2010 for 22 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. When comparing annual estimates of supply and demand of NPP, we found that demand increased from 0.44... (More)
Net primary production (NPP) is the principal source of energy for ecosystems and, by extension, human populations that depend on them. The relationship between the supply and demand of NPP is important for the assessment of socio-ecological vulnerability. We present an analysis of the supply and demand of NPP in the Sahel using NPP estimates from the MODIS sensor and agri-environmental data from FAOSTAT. This synergistic approach allows for a spatially explicit estimation of human impact on ecosystems. We estimated the annual amount of NPP required to derive food, fuel and feed between 2000 and 2010 for 22 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. When comparing annual estimates of supply and demand of NPP, we found that demand increased from 0.44 PgC to 1.13 PgC, representing 19% and 41%, respectively, of available supply due to a 31% increase in the human population between 2000 and 2010. The demand for NPP has been increasing at an annual rate of 2.2% but NPP supply was near-constant with an inter-annual variability of approximately 1.7%. Overall, there were statistically significant (p < 0.05) increases in the NPP of cropland (+6.0%), woodland (+6.1%) and grassland/savanna (+9.4%), and a decrease in the NPP of forests (−0.7%). On the demand side, the largest increase was for food (20.4%) followed by feed (16.7%) and fuel (5.5%). The supply-demand balance of NPP is a potentially important tool from the standpoint of sustainable development, and as an indicator of stresses on the environment stemming from increased consumption of biomass. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Drylands, Sustainability, Net primary production, Sahel, climate change, Food security, Africa
in
Environmental Research Letters
volume
9
issue
9
pages
11 - 094003
publisher
IOP Publishing
external identifiers
  • wos:000344963500008
  • scopus:84928742134
ISSN
1748-9326
DOI
10.1088/1748-9326/9/9/094003
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ed50c82c-4fc5-4704-90d8-5f48e86dcbfc (old id 4648310)
alternative location
http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/9/9/094003/article
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:47:18
date last changed
2023-01-03 21:55:47
@article{ed50c82c-4fc5-4704-90d8-5f48e86dcbfc,
  abstract     = {{Net primary production (NPP) is the principal source of energy for ecosystems and, by extension, human populations that depend on them. The relationship between the supply and demand of NPP is important for the assessment of socio-ecological vulnerability. We present an analysis of the supply and demand of NPP in the Sahel using NPP estimates from the MODIS sensor and agri-environmental data from FAOSTAT. This synergistic approach allows for a spatially explicit estimation of human impact on ecosystems. We estimated the annual amount of NPP required to derive food, fuel and feed between 2000 and 2010 for 22 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. When comparing annual estimates of supply and demand of NPP, we found that demand increased from 0.44 PgC to 1.13 PgC, representing 19% and 41%, respectively, of available supply due to a 31% increase in the human population between 2000 and 2010. The demand for NPP has been increasing at an annual rate of 2.2% but NPP supply was near-constant with an inter-annual variability of approximately 1.7%. Overall, there were statistically significant (p &lt; 0.05) increases in the NPP of cropland (+6.0%), woodland (+6.1%) and grassland/savanna (+9.4%), and a decrease in the NPP of forests (−0.7%). On the demand side, the largest increase was for food (20.4%) followed by feed (16.7%) and fuel (5.5%). The supply-demand balance of NPP is a potentially important tool from the standpoint of sustainable development, and as an indicator of stresses on the environment stemming from increased consumption of biomass.}},
  author       = {{Abdi, Hakim and Seaquist, Jonathan and Tenenbaum, David and Eklundh, Lars and Ardö, Jonas}},
  issn         = {{1748-9326}},
  keywords     = {{Drylands; Sustainability; Net primary production; Sahel; climate change; Food security; Africa}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{9}},
  pages        = {{11--094003}},
  publisher    = {{IOP Publishing}},
  series       = {{Environmental Research Letters}},
  title        = {{The supply and demand of net primary production in the Sahel}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/3585345/4648312.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1088/1748-9326/9/9/094003}},
  volume       = {{9}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}