Citation
West, Colin Thor; Benecky, Sarah; Karlsson, Cassandra; Reiss, Bella; & Moody, Aaron (2020). Bottom-Up Perspectives on the Re-Greening of the Sahel: An Evaluation of the Spatial Relationship between Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) and Tree-Cover in Burkina Faso. Land, 9(6), 208.Abstract
The Re-Greening of the West African Sahel has attracted great interdisciplinary interest since it was originally detected in the mid-2000s. Studies have investigated vegetation patterns at regional scales using a time series of coarse resolution remote sensing analyses. Fewer have attempted to explain the processes behind these patterns at local scales. This research investigates bottom-up processes driving Sahelian greening in the northern Central Plateau of Burkina Faso—a region recognized as a greening hot spot. The objective was to understand the relationship between soil and water conservation (SWC) measures and the presence of trees through a comparative case study of three village terroirs, which have been the site of long-term human ecology fieldwork. Research specifically tests the hypothesis that there is a positive relationship between SWC and tree cover. Methods include remote sensing of high-resolution satellite imagery and aerial photos; GIS procedures; and chi-square statistical tests. Results indicate that, across all sites, there is a significant association between SWC and trees (chi-square = 20.144, pURL
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/land9060208Reference Type
Journal ArticleYear Published
2020Journal Title
LandAuthor(s)
West, Colin ThorBenecky, Sarah
Karlsson, Cassandra
Reiss, Bella
Moody, Aaron