Vegetation distribution along a granite catena, southern Kruger National Park, South Africa

Plant community structure and possible vegetation changes after drought on a granite catena in the Kruger National Park, South Africa

“…Granite gneiss is widespread in the eastern regions of KNP and results in shallow, nutrient-poor soils that vary from grey to red to brown in colour (Venter 1990). Descriptions of the different soil forms found along the catena at the site were provided in Figure 2 within the article by Theron et al (2020). The vegetation type at the study site is mostly Granite Lowveld (SVI3), characterised by a ground layer of tall grasses with…”

“…The same hillslope transect was surveyed for five seasons; the first survey was conducted prior to the onset of severe drought conditions (Theron et al 2020) during December 2015 and April 2016 (Figure 1). The second and fourth surveys represent the start of the rainy summer season, while the third and fifth surveys reflect the end thereof (Figure 1).…”

“…This catena forms part of a research supersite, where long-term research is needed to establish baselines for monitoring and understanding ecological change (Smit et al 2013). We describe taxonomic community changes, as well as testing for shifts in diversity, over two wet and two dry seasons through the drought period and compare these with pre-drought conditions (April 2015) described elsewhere (Theron, Van Aardt & Du Preez 2020). We focused only on the herbaceous and grassy components of the vegetation because we were interested in resolving short-term responses in savanna plant resilience to drought.…”

First report of various Fusarium species from the Stevenson-Hamilton Supersite granite catena system in the Kruger National Park, South Africa

“…The study was conducted in the Southern Granites 'Supersite' catena close to the Stevenson-Hamilton Memorial (Smit et al 2013). Four random soil samples to a depth of 5 cm were taken for each of the components of the catena system in a transect of more or less 500 m following Theron, Van Aardt and Du Preez (2020). Furthermore, roots of Pogonarthria squarrosa (sickle grass, Poaceae, Poales), Sporobolus nitens (curly leaved drop seed grass, Poaceae) and Schkuhria pinnata (dwarf marigold, Asteraceae, Asterales), which included some of the dominant plants in the catena (Theron et al 2020), were collected.…”

“…Four random soil samples to a depth of 5 cm were taken for each of the components of the catena system in a transect of more or less 500 m following Theron, Van Aardt and Du Preez (2020). Furthermore, roots of Pogonarthria squarrosa (sickle grass, Poaceae, Poales), Sporobolus nitens (curly leaved drop seed grass, Poaceae) and Schkuhria pinnata (dwarf marigold, Asteraceae, Asterales), which included some of the dominant plants in the catena (Theron et al 2020), were collected. Topsoil was deliberately included with the assumption that the soils will contain soil-associated fusaria as well as spores that were aerially distributed from plants in the area.…”