Conservation with elevated elephant densities sequesters carbon in soils despite losses of woody biomass
This page lists all metadata that was entered for this dataset. You can download the dataset.
Feature
Citation
Citation Options
Identification
| Title: | Main Title: Conservation with elevated elephant densities sequesters carbon in soils despite losses of woody biomass |
| Description: | Abstract: Nature conservation and restoration in terrestrial ecosystems is often focused on increasing the numbers of megafauna, expecting them to have positive impacts on ecological self-regulation processes and biodiversity. In sub-Saharan Africa, conservation efforts also aspire to protect and enhance biodiversity with particular focus on elephants. However, elephant browsing carries the risk of woody biomass losses. In this context, little is known about how increasing elephant numbers affects carbon stocks in soils, including the subsoils. We hypothesized that (1) increasing numbers of elephants reduce tree biomass, and thus the amount of C stored therein, resulting (2) in a loss of soil organic carbon (SOC). If true, a negative carbon footprint could limit the sustainability of elephant conservation from a global carbon perspective. To test these hypotheses, we selected plots of low, medium, and high elephant densities in two national parks and adjacent conservancies in the Namibian component of the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Area (KAZA), and quantified carbon storage in both woody vegetation and soils (1 m). Analyses were supplemented by the assessment of soil carbon isotopic composition. We found that increasing elephant densities resulted in a loss of tree carbon storage by 6.4 t ha−1. However, and in contrast to our second hypothesis, SOC stocks increased by 4.7 t ha−1 with increasing elephant densities. These higher SOC stocks were mainly found in the topsoil (0–30 cm) and were largely due to the formation of SOC from woody biomass. A second carbon input source into the soils was megaherbivore dung, which contributed with 0.02–0.323 t C ha−1 year−1 to ecosystem carbon storage in the low and high elephant density plots, respectively. Consequently, increasing elephant density does not necessarily lead to a negative C footprint, as soil carbon sequestration and transient C storage in dung almost compensate for losses in tree biomass. |
| Identifier: | 10.1111/gcb.15779 (DOI) |
| Related Resource: | Documents Dataset 10.5880/TRR228DB.4 (DOI) |
| Citation Advice: | https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15779 |
Responsible Party
| Creators: | Alexandra Sandhage-Hofmann (Author), Anja Linstädter (Author), Liana Kindermann (Author), Simon Angombe (Author), Wulf Amelung (Author) |
| Publisher: | Wiley |
| Publication Year: | 2021 |
Topic
| TRR228 Topic: | Ecology |
| Related Subproject: | A1 |
| Subjects: | Keywords: Soil Organic Carbon, Conservation, Wildlife, Vegetation |
| Geogr. Information Topic: | Environment |
File Details
| Filename: | Sandhage_Hofmann_2021.pdf |
| Data Type: | Data Paper - publication |
| File Size: | 1.3 MB |
| Date: | Available: 01.07.2021 |
| Mime Type: | application/pdf |
| Data Format: | |
| Language: | English |
| Status: | Completed |
Constraints
| Download Permission: | Free |
| Download Information: | DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15779 |
| General Access and Use Conditions: | According to the TRR228DB data policy agreement. |
| Access Limitations: | According to the TRR228DB data policy agreement. |
| Licence: | [Open Data Commons] Attribution License (ODC-By) |
Geographic
Specific Information - Publication
| Publication Status: | Published |
| Review Status: | Peer reviewed |
| Publication Type: | Article |
| Article Type: | Journal |
| Source: | Global Change Biology |
| Issue: | 19 |
| Volume: | 27 |
| Number of Pages: | 14 (4601 - 4614) |
Metadata Details
| Metadata Creator: | Alexandra Sandhage-Hofmann |
| Metadata Created: | 03.03.2022 |
| Metadata Last Updated: | 09.03.2022 |
| Subproject: | A1 |
| Funding Phase: | 1 |
| Metadata Language: | English |
| Metadata Version: | V50 |
Metadata Export
| Metadata Schema: |
Dataset Statistics
| Page Visits: | 137 |
| Metadata Downloads: | 0 |
| Dataset Downloads: | 0 |
Dataset Activity
Feature
By downloading this dataset you accept the license terms of [Open Data Commons] Attribution License (ODC-By) and TRR228DB Data Protection Statement
Adequate reference when this dataset will be discussed or used in any publication or presentation is mandatory. In this case please contact the dataset creator.
Adequate reference when this dataset will be discussed or used in any publication or presentation is mandatory. In this case please contact the dataset creator.
