Classification of the Eastern Scarp Forests

Mucina, Ladislav; Lötter, Mervyn; Tichý, Lubomír; Siebert, Stefan; Scott-Shaw, C. Robert

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-67831-3_6

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Gauteng is the economic hub of South Africa-the smallest, most densely populated province, rich in biodiversity, but pressured by development and rapid urbanization [43]. The City of Tshwane metropolitan area lies within a summer rainfall area between the grassland and savanna biomes, and contains vegetation comprising high levels of endemism [56]. The six areas monitored for this study would once have been covered by the "Moot Plains Bushveld" [56], but also contain grassland vegetation that resembles the Rocky Highveld Grassland vegetation type, of which only 1.38% is conserved [57].…”

Section: Study Area and Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The City of Tshwane metropolitan area lies within a summer rainfall area between the grassland and savanna biomes, and contains vegetation comprising high levels of endemism [56]. The six areas monitored for this study would once have been covered by the "Moot Plains Bushveld" [56], but also contain grassland vegetation that resembles the Rocky Highveld Grassland vegetation type, of which only 1.38% is conserved [57]. After fynbos, grassland is the second-most diverse vegetation type in South Africa [56].…”

Section: Study Area and Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The six areas monitored for this study would once have been covered by the "Moot Plains Bushveld" [56], but also contain grassland vegetation that resembles the Rocky Highveld Grassland vegetation type, of which only 1.38% is conserved [57]. After fynbos, grassland is the second-most diverse vegetation type in South Africa [56]. The temperate grassland comprises plant communities of grasses and forbs that reappear on an annual basis from below-ground storage organs [58].…”

Section: Study Area and Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Could Purposefully Engineered Native Grassland Gardens Enhance Urban Insect Biodiversity?

Breed

Morelli

Pirk

et al. 2022

Land

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Progress is required in response to how cities can support greater biodiversity. This calls for more research on how landscape designers can actively shape urban ecologies to deliver context-specific empirical bases for green space intervention decisions. Design experiments offer opportunities for implemented projects within real-world settings to serve as learning sites. This paper explores preliminary ecological outcomes from a multidisciplinary team on whether purposefully engineered native grassland gardens provide more habitat functions for insects than mainstream gardens in the City of Tshwane, South Africa. Six different sites were sampled: two recently installed native grassland garden interventions (young native), two contemporary non-native control gardens (young non-native) on the same premises and of the same ages as the interventions, one remnant of a more pristine native grassland reference area (old native), and one long-established, non-native reference garden (old non-native). Plant and insect diversity were sampled over one year. The short-term findings suggest that higher plant beta diversity (species turnover indicating heterogeneity in a site) supports greater insect richness and evenness in richness. Garden size, age, and connectivity were not clear factors mediating urban habitat enhancement. Based on the preliminary results, the researchers recommend high native grassland species composition and diversity, avoiding individual species dominance, but increasing beta diversity and functional types when selecting garden plants for urban insect biodiversity conservation in grassland biomes.

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Section: Study Area and Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Area and Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Area and Study Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Could Purposefully Engineered Native Grassland Gardens Enhance Urban Insect Biodiversity?

Breed

Morelli

Pirk

et al. 2022

Land

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“…In the mesic savanna, the two study sites were located within the Ithala Game Reserve in the northern part of the KwaZulu-Natal Province. The MAP of 792 mm/yr falls mainly from November to May (Mucina et al, 2006). The mean annual temperature recorded at a nearby weather station is about 22 °C (van Rooyen and van Rooyen, 2010).…”

Section: Study Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The soils are coarse-grained shallow soils over hard rock with a poor nutrient supply that is limited to the top soil layer and a low water holding capacity (Jones et al, 2013;van Rooyen and van Rooyen, 2010). Mucina et al (2006) describe the vegetation type as 'Ithala Quartzite Sourveld', which represents an intermediate type between the grassland and the savanna biomes. The reserve was established in 1973.…”

Section: Study Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%