Which grazing management practices are most appropriate for maintaining biodiversity in South African grassland?

O’Connor, Timothy G.; Kuyler, P; Kirkman, Kevin; Corcoran, Bonni M.

doi:10.2989/10220119.2010.502646

Cited by 58 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Results in North American grassland vary from finding no relationship between grazing and species richness (Bai et al 2001) to finding a significant increase in species richness with heavy grazing (Hickman et al 2004). The latter paradigm is overall poorly tested (O'Connor et al 2010). In temperate Australian grassland, native species richness declined across a range of spatial scales in response to increasing grazing intensity which is in keeping with results of previous studies in that region (Dorrough et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…Rangeland and biodiversity research in South Africa has been biased towards areas of commercial livestock ranching, and extrapolating findings to communal rangeland is particularly problematic (O'Connor et al 2010). Communal land in South Africa is characterized by continuous grazing usually with higher stocking densities than with commercial, commodity-based ranching.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Grassland not rested from grazing will experience a greater reduction of plant diversity (O'Connor et al 2010). A national degradation audit in South Africa in the late 1990s found that communal land tenure was the strongest predictor of vegetation and soil degradation (Vetter et al 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Can heavy grazing on communal land elevate plant species richness levels in the Grassland Biome of South Africa?

Rutherford

Powrie

2011

Plant Ecol

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A common perception, particularly in South Africa, is that heavily and continuously grazed communal land leads to degradation and loss of plant diversity when compared to commercial rangeland farming or conservation areas. We focus on whether this applies to the Grassland Biome of South Africa and whether the opposite can occur, namely, an increase in plant species richness under heavy grazing. A study of a contrast between a communal area of the former Ciskei and a neighbouring nature reserve showed that intense utilization under communal use led to a significant increase in plant species richness. However, this increase was scale-dependent with the greatest significant difference occurring at sample plot scale (50 m 2 ) but converging at the broader scale of the whole study site. Species that increased with heavy grazing included those from arid Karroid areas as well as some from more mesic grassland and savanna areas. The contribution of beta diversity to gamma diversity across the grazing contrast was relatively low which reflects the relatively high proportion of species shared between treatments. Total plant canopy cover declined sharply with heavy grazing. In terms of plant canopy cover, grazing favoured annual over perennial plants, prostrate over erect plants, and stoloniferous over tussock plant architecture. This pattern was not supported when expressed in terms of number of species belonging to these grazing response groups or traits.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 77%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Can heavy grazing on communal land elevate plant species richness levels in the Grassland Biome of South Africa?

Rutherford

Powrie

2011

Plant Ecol

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“…Biodiversity conservation is beginning to emerge as an additional objective of livestock ranching systems (O'Connor et al 2010b). Development of bush clumps within former grassland could add 40 or so additional plant species, plus create habitat for a number of frugivorous or woodland-dependent bird species and browsing mammals.…”

Section: Management Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bush clump succession in grassland in the Kei Road region of the Eastern Cape, South Africa

O’Connor

Chamane

2012

African Journal of Range & Forage Science

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Bush encroachment is a vegetation dynamic of global interest. This study describes the pattern of succession of bush clumps in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, using a space-for-time substitution. Clumps formed following establishment of mainly Acacia karroo in grassland through nucleation via animal dispersal. A total of 49 tree or shrub species were recorded in 40 clumps. With increasing clump size, there was a corresponding increase in woody basal area, species richness and diversity, but not evenness. Correspondence analysis showed that the pattern of compositional variation was closely related to clump size; differences resulting from clump establishment disappeared as clumps developed. Population size structure of 20 (of 21) species was dominated by small individuals, indicating that regeneration has increased over time. Coddia rudis was prolific on a clump periphery; Scutia myrtina and A. karroo were dominant within clumps. Seven shrub and nine tree species were encountered more frequently within a clump than on its periphery. All species other than A. karroo had fruits suited to dispersal by birds or mammals. The overall pattern of bush clump succession shows close parallels with that initiated by invasion of Prosopis glandulosa into grassland in Texas, USA.

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“…In fact, two-thirds of the attributes identified represented compositional and functional aspects of the vegetation (Oliver 2002. O'Connor et al (2010) reported that sparse empirical data indicated that stocking rate, cattle-to-sheep ratio and increased fire intervals can affect plant diversity. Nevertheless, none of these studies have shown clear correlations between veld condition scores and plant diversity, which is necessary to make this an appropriate technique for rapid biodiversity assessments.…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

Herbaceous plant species richness and composition in moist Midlands Mistbelt Grasslands in KwaZulu-Natal: is there a relationship to veld condition?

Ngwenya¹

2012

African Journal of Range & Forage Science

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This study investigated the relationship between grazing veld condition and herbaceous plant species richness in the moist Midlands Mistbelt Grassland in KwaZulu-Natal. The observed herbaceous plant species richness and composition of 12 sample plots (50 m × 50 m) was determined in three study sites using quadrat samples (50 cm × 50 cm in size) and the estimated species richness was determined using the jacknife estimate of species richness. Grazing veld condition was established using the spike-point sampling technique and the benchmark method for data analysis. The relationship between the herbaceous plant species richness and the veld condition scores was determined using the linear and curvilinear correlation analysis. Veld condition scores for the 12 plots ranged from 2.43% to 120.65%, whereas the species richness ranged from 46 to 107 (observed) and 60 to 136 (estimated) species per plot. There was no relationship between herbaceous plant species richness and grazing veld condition scores (r = −0.2723, P = 0.392, df = 10, n = 12). Therefore, veld condition scores cannot be used as a surrogate for species diversity and vice versa. There was a positive curvilinear relationship between observed grass and forb species richness (r = 0.5478, P = 0.0652, df = 10, n = 12).

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Which grazing management practices are most appropriate for maintaining biodiversity in South African grassland?

Cited by 58 publications

References 34 publications

Can heavy grazing on communal land elevate plant species richness levels in the Grassland Biome of South Africa?

Can heavy grazing on communal land elevate plant species richness levels in the Grassland Biome of South Africa?

Bush clump succession in grassland in the Kei Road region of the Eastern Cape, South Africa

Herbaceous plant species richness and composition in moist Midlands Mistbelt Grasslands in KwaZulu-Natal: is there a relationship to veld condition?

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