Fig. 6

Trends in vegetation composition and rainfall distribution in the western Sahel. VOD-based estimates of herbaceous mass (AGH; light blue) and woody foliage (WPF; dark blue) for the Sahel (1992–2012) as delineated in Fig. 5. Linear trends are shown as light and dark blue lines. The slopes for AGH (5 kg ha yr⁻¹) and WPF (9 kg ha yr⁻¹) are significantly different (P < 0.01). b Decomposed rainfall trends for areas with a higher slope in early/late rains (rainfall_EL) than core wet-season rains (rainfall_C) (n = 35 704) for 1987–2016 (n = 30). Rainfall_C corresponds to the core wet-season rain and rainfall_EL to the early and late rains. The slopes for rainfall_C (0.4 mm yr⁻¹) and rainfall_EL (1.4 mm yr⁻¹) are significantly different (P = 0.01)