Abstract:
This study aimed to investigate the applicability of dendrochronology for assessing the growth dynamics
and response to climate variability and to estimate the aboveground carbon stock and carbon sequestration potential of Vitellaria paradoxa in southern Mali. Twenty stem disks were collected from three
land-use types (parklands, fallows and protected areas) in Koutiala and Yanfolila districts. We combined a standard dendrochronological approach with biomass allometric equations to estimate the
growth and carbon stocks. The results showed that V. paradoxa forms distinct growth ring boundaries
but most of the disks from parklands did not successfully cross-date due to management operations
like pruning. The tree-ring width showed a significant standardized coefficient of regression with rainfall (r2 = 0.66, p < 0.001) but insignificant correlation with temperature. One-way analysis of variance
showed no significant difference (p > 0.05) for C-sequestration as well as for carbon stocks in aboveground biomass for both land-use types and sites. Mean values of the amount of C-sequestered in
Yanfolila were 0.112 ± 0.0.065 Mg C ha−1 yr−1
in parklands, 0.075 ± 0.018 Mg C ha−1 yr−1
in fallows and
0.064 ± 0.028 Mg C ha−1 yr−1
in protected areas. In Koutiala, the values were 0.068±0.020 Mg C ha−1 yr−1
in the parklands and 0.053 ± 0.017 Mg C ha−1 yr−1
in the fallows. These results clearly indicate that dendrochronology can be applied to assess growth and carbon sequestration potential of V. paradoxa. These
results also suggest that climate change could affect the growth and carbon sequestration potential of V.
paradoxa. Given the limited size of our sample, figures on the amount of carbon are indicative calling for
applying the tested approaches to larger samples and also to other tree species in West Africa.
