Source contributions in precipitation chemistry and analysis of atmospheric nitrogen deposition in a Sahelian dry savanna site in West Africa

Experimental data on precipitation chemistry were collected at a semi-arid savanna in Senegal (Dahra) in 2013, 2014 and 2017. The chemical composition of precipitation was analyzed for inorganic and organic ions, using ionic chromatography. The pH values of precipitation range from 4.50 to 8.50 with 89% of the samples having basic pH. The composition of precipitation was controlled by four source contributions: marine, terrigenous, biogenic, and organic acids emissions from vegetation. The terrigenous contribution was the highest accounting for 42% of the total annual Volume Weighted Mean ionic concentrations, due to the proximity of the Saharan desert, followed by the marine source representing 36%, due to the location of Dahra close to the Atlantic Ocean. Nitrogenous (N) contribution represents 16% of the mean annual total ionic charge, from biogenic sources and livestock crossing the site all year round. Finally, the lowest contribution is from organic acidity (5%), due to the low density of vegetation especially during the dry season. Wet deposition fluxes in Dahra for all compounds show larger values than at other Sahelian savanna sites. Dry N deposition in Dahra was also estimated by inferential method using gas concentration measurements and modeled dry deposition velocities. The total N deposition fluxes (wet plus dry) range from 3.80 to 4.81 kgN ha−1 yr−1, comparable to fluxes at other semi-arid savannas in Niger and Mali. Wet deposition contributed with 37–53% of the total N flux, suggesting that wet N deposition is equally important to dry deposition fluxes for direct N loading to savanna ecosystems in the Sahel, with a large contribution of reduced compounds. This study shows that Dahra presents a precipitation chemistry composition with characteristics close to those from other Sahelian sites, with however the specificity of being more influenced by the proximity of the Atlantic ocean and the presence of livestock year round