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Interception by the woody layer of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) was measured and calculated for two Guiera senegalensis J.F. Gmel. shrub savannas in Ouallam, Western Niger, in 1991 as part of the HAPEX-Sahel experiment.

Two different scales were considered. At the plant scale, PAR interception was measured throughout the day with amorphous silicon sensors, together with detailed measurements of the structure of the shrubs (size of the ’envelope’ of the shrub, area index, and angular distribution of the leaves and the branches). These data permitted us to develop and validate a simple radiative transfer model in which the shrubs are represented by porous cylinders; the total transmissivity (or porosity) of the shrubs estimated by the model was approximately 0.4. It indicates that semi-arid shrubs cannot be considered opaque objects and that the fraction of ground covered with plants is a poor indicator of the PAR interception efficiency of the canopy.

The model was also applied at a landscape scale to calculate the daily PAR interception of two shrub savanna sites. This value is needed to model primary production in conjunction with remotely sensed and production data acquired simultaneously on the sites.