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Fire as a method of controlling macchia (fynbos) vegetation on the Amatole mountains of the eastern cape
Author
Trollope, W. S. W.
Publisher
Proceedings of the Annual Congresses of the Grassland Society of Southern Africa
Publication Year
1973
Body

Earlier research on eradicating macchia (fynbos) vegetation on the Amatole Mountains showed that both the lowland and highland macchia communities were re?established from coppice growth and seedlings. Follow?up burning treatments were, therefore, applied following eradication. In the lowland macehia, burning two years after destroying a dense stand of Cliffortia linearifolia, followed by another burn one year later, virtually eliminated the species and caused a complete recovery in the grass sward. In the highland macehia, burning two, three, or four years after the original treatments was equally effective in reducing the regrowth of Erica brownleeae and Cliffortia paucistaminea to negligible proportions. However, the hotter the burn, the more adversely affected was the grass sward. This effect became more pronounced as the interval increased between the original eradication treatment and the follow?up burn.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Journal Issue/Article
Collection
Southern Africa Collection
Journal Name
Proceedings of the Annual Congresses of the Grassland Society of Southern Africa
Keywords
Africa