This project determined the effect of Peste des petit ruminants (PPR) vaccine on the haematological indices of two breeds of goats (Sahel and West African Dwarf) and evaluated the effects of breed and sex on the haematological parameters. Haematological indices of the initial sample (comprising ten Sahel and ten WAD breeds) were evaluated prior to vaccination. Thirteen of the twenty goats were ...

Simulations with a synchronously coupled atmosphere-land-ocean-sea ice model indicate El Niño/La Niña-like events in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean during the middle Holocene (6 ka) with similar intensities and frequencies as at present (0 ka). July-August-September Sahel precipitation shifts northward as expected from proxy data. For presentday, interannual-decadal variability of western S...

A mesoscale climate model (MCM) is developed from the Pennsylvania State University/ National Center for Atmospheric Research (PSU/ NCAR) MM5 model to simulate the West African summer monsoon. Results from the MCM are compared to observations, a reanalysis, and GCM output to show that the MCM reasonably simulates the West African monsoon climate and its variability, and improves on many shortco...

After a dry period with prolonged droughts in the 1970s and 1980s, recent scientific outcome suggests that the decades of abnormally dry conditions in the Sahel have been reversed by positive anomalies in rainfall. Various remote sensing studies observed a positive trend in vegetation greenness over the last decades which is known as the re-greening of the Sahel. However, little investment has ...

In West Africa, consumers pay a major attention on the coat colour of the sheep due to religious and cultural reasons. White coated individuals reach selling prices up to three-fold higher than black coated sheep. The aim of this study was to ascertain the genotypic and allelic frequencies of MC1R and ASIP genes in order to assess possible implementation of breeding programmes focusing on the i...

a r t i c l e i n f o Keywords: West African Monsoon Sahel rainfall Remote sensing Ocean–atmosphere–land interaction The West African Monsoon region is of great concern due to the negative ecological, economical, and societal impacts of the persistent drought. Our results support the established postulation that the onset of summer rain in the southern region is associated with the migration of...

The role of naturally varying vegetation in influencing the climate variability in the West African Sahel is explored in a coupled atmosphere-land-vegetation model. The Sahel rainfall variability is influenced by sea-surface temperature variations in the oceans. Land-surface feedback is found to increase this variability both on interannual and interdecadal time scales. Interactive vegetation e...

Climatological background Life in the semiarid Sahel belt of tropical North Africa strongly depends on the availability of water and has been repeatedly affected by shifts to more arid climate. The most recent drought occurred in the early 1970’s and 1980’s, with partial recovery during the late 1990’s. High resolution fluvial sediments off Senegal offer the opportunity to study the history of ...