Recherches écologique sur une savane sahélienne du Ferlo septentrional, Sénégal : 1972, année sèche au Sahel

The yearly variations of rainfall for the period 1871-1970 at Saint-Louis (Sénégal) are reviewed. The figures range widely from 144 to 691 mm per year ; the modal value is 330 mm and the mean 370 mm. No definite change in climate during the past hundred years is noticeable in this area. Rainfall influences both the structure and the productivity of the savana grasslands. At the IBP Study Site of Fété-Olé, above ground production varies «normaly» from 590 to 1 300 kg/ha (dry weight) ; it appears to be proportional to the duration cf the period during which ground water is available to plants (50 to 110 days per year). During 1972, the above ground production of the grass layer cn the IBP Study Site was practically nil.
Bille Jean-Claude. Recherches écologique sur une savane sahélienne du Ferlo septentrional, Sénégal : 1972, année sèche au Sahel . In: La Terre et La Vie, Revue d'Histoire naturelle, tome 28, n°1, 1974. pp. 5-20.