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Lack of understanding of the life history attributes and responses of savanna woody plants
to disturbances, as well as the observation of unstable population structures in a keystone,
savanna tree, Sclerocarya birrea subsp. caffra (marula), prompted this study. This study
employed a combination of empirical, experimental and model formulation techniques,
aimed at achieving its ultimate purpose of understanding the life history strategy of marula
in the face of disturbance. Four main population structures were identified for marula in the
low altitude savannas of South Africa: 1) adult dominated, 2) juvenile dominated, 3) with a
“missing size class” and 4) stable (negative J-shaped). Spatial variability in structure
indicated different drivers affecting different populations. High annual mortality rates of up
to 4.6% in adult trees, no recruitment out of the fire trap and little regeneration were
observed in the Kruger National Park (KNP) between 2001 and 2010, and consequently
even greater instability in the structure of these populations already observed earlier in the
decade.