Rangeland Ecology & Management
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- Library Collection RecordThe sub-montane cultivation belt, with its so-called Chagga home gardens on Mount Kilimanjaro, was investigated for its Saltatoria fauna. Since these cultivated fields still have the structure of a…Publication Date 2005
- Orthoptera
- East Africa
- biodiversity
- Endemism
- conservation
- ecosystem ecology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordAbstract. Various attempts have been made to describe and map the vegetation of southern Africa with recent efforts having an increasingly ecologi cal context. Vegetation classification is usually…Publication Date 2004
- biome
- GIS
- NDVI
- satellite imagery
- Time series analysis
- Vegetation classification
- remote sensing
- mapping
- ecology
- ecosystem ecology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordAbstract. Disturbance may be an important determinant of plant community composition and diversity owing to its effects on competitive interactions, resources, dominance and vigour. The effect of…Publication Date 2004
- competition
- fire
- light
- litter
- Soil desiccation
- species richness
- fire ecology
- grasslands
- ecosystem ecology
- management
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordAim To determine whether patterns of avian species turnover reflect either biome or climate transitions at a regional scale, and whether anthropogenic landscape transformation affects those patterns…Publication Date 2004
- Avian species turnover
- ?-diversity
- biome
- heterogeneity
- spatial congruence
- birds
- biodiversity
- vegetation dynamics
- ecosystem ecology
- climate
- landscape ecology
- land use
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordDistribution patterns were examined at both regional and local scales for an entire species assemblage of dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) from the margins of the semi-arid Nama…Publication Date 2004
- Assemblage
- Dune
- dung
- Edge
- Kalahari
- Karoo
- Local
- range
- dung beetles
- rainfall
- ecosystem ecology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordDuring the dormant winter period the semi-arid rangeland areas of South Africa are characterized by unplanned fires, either by lightning or negligence by man. The quantification of the impact of…Publication Date 2004
- Above-ground phytomass production
- basal cover
- Crude Protein Content
- Grass sward recovery
- Head fire
- litter
- rain-use efficiency
- root mass
- fire ecology
- rangelands
- plant production
- vegetation dynamics
- ecosystem ecology
- management
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordA thorough understanding of the role of microbes in C cycling in relation to fire is important for estimation of C emissions and for development of guidelines for sustainable management of dry…Publication Date 2004
- C isotopes
- C sequestration
- CO2 flux
- Dry and rainy season
- fire effects
- Microbial biomass C
- savanna
- Substrate-induced respiration
- carbon dioxide
- carbon dynamics
- fire
- management
- soils
- grasslands
- ecosystem ecology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThere is a pressing need for an objective, repeatable, systematic and spatially explicit measure of land degradation. In northeastern South Africa (SA), there are large areas of the former homelands…Publication Date 2004
- land degradation
- NDVI values
- rangelands
- South Africa
- degradation
- land use
- remote sensing
- rainfall
- ecosystem ecology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordSoil macrofauna are sensitive to land use changes and this may have implications to soil functioning. The impact of the conversion of native ecosystems into extensive or intensive pastures on soil…Publication Date 2004
- tropical savannas
- tropical forests
- Pasture establishment
- Soil macrofauna
- earthworms
- Soil biodiversity
- invertebrates
- soils
- ecosystem ecology
- cattle
- fire ecology
- biodiversity
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordBiodiversity conservation is a challenge within developing regions of the world. Landscape heterogeneity is largely directed by interconnected economic and social systems, which are largely driven by…Publication Date 2004
- Avian richness
- Habitat proportion
- KwaZulu-Natal
- land-use
- Landscape metric pattern
- multiple regression
- Socio-economic development
- southern Africa
- biodiversity
- conservation
- ecosystem ecology
- socio-economic aspects
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordA central goal of ecosystem ecology is to understand how the cycling of nutrients and the growth of organisms are linked. Ecologists have repeatedly observed that nutrient mineralization and plant…Publication Date 2004
- ecosystem ecology
- soil fertility
- soil nutrition
- plant production
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordUniversity of Natal , Pietermaritzburg, Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences.Publication Date 2004
- grasslands
- mangement
- carbon dioxide
- community vegetation studies
- plant production
- water use efficiency
- ecosystem ecology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordResearch on the effects of ozone on agricultural crops and agro-ecosystems is needed for the development of regional emission reduction strategies, to underpin practical recommendations aiming to…Publication Date 2003
- Tropospheric ozone
- Ozone flux
- Ozone risk assessment
- detoxification
- Antioxidants
- Agricultural crops
- grassland
- climate change
- agriculture
- modelling
- plant production
- ecosystem ecology
- carbon dioxide
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa hosts a large diversity of asclepiads (Apocynaceae: Asclepiadoideae), many of which are endemic to the area. The asclepiads are of particular interest because…Publication Date 2003
- animals
- ecosystem
- Flowers/physiology/ultrastructure
- Gentianaceae/*physiology
- Hymenoptera/*physiology/ultrastructure
- microscopy
- Electron
- Scanning
- Poaceae/*physiology
- Pollen/*physiology/ultrastructure
- South Africa
- grasslands
- endemic species
- ecosystem ecology
- insects
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordIn many South African catchments, water is an increasingly limited and highly fluctuating resource. Accurate prediction of low flows is especially vital if water resource managers are to successfully…Publication Date 2003
- streamflow
- IHACRES
- land-use
- Rainfall-runoff model
- South Africa
- hydrology
- modelling
- rainfall
- decision support systems
- ecosystem ecology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe paper analyses land use trajectories in savannah woodlands in the Central-West Region, Burkina Faso and the Upper East Region in northern Ghana by use of satellite images and historical archives…Publication Date 2003
- deforestation
- remote sensing
- Colonial history
- Land cover changes
- Ghana
- Burkina Faso
- socio-economic aspects
- land-use
- legislation
- ecosystem ecology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordUnplanned fires are a natural phenomenon in southern African rangelands. The influence of fire on soil characteristics (soil-water content, soil compaction, soil temperature, infiltration ability,…Publication Date 2003
- Head fire
- Infiltrability
- Organic Matter Content
- soil compaction
- soil temperature
- Soil-water content
- soil properties
- fire ecology
- rangeland condition
- Soil Condition
- disturbance
- soil moisture
- ecosystem ecology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordA distributed GIS-based hydrological model is developed using GIS and computational hydrology techniques. The model is based on water balance consideration of the surface and subsurface processes.…Publication Date 2003
- Water balance model
- GIS
- Regional hydrology
- southern Africa
- runoff
- soil moisture
- Evapo-transpiration
- ecosystem ecology
- vegetation dynamics
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordCyanobacterial soil crusts may be important in arid and semi-arid ecosystems because of their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen (N2). These crusts are very sensitive to trampling by animals, and…Publication Date 2003
- soil crusts
- N fixation
- Kalahari
- acetylene reduction
- isotopes
- savanna
- soils
- ecosystem ecology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe effect of intensive grazing and browsing of domestic stock and wildlife on the number of species and abundance of vegetation was investigated in the Hoanib River catchment, north-western Namibia…Publication Date 2003
- vegetation impact
- Arid Environment
- intensive grazing
- ecosystem ecology
- vegetation dynamics
- grasslands
- grazing
- livestock
- wildlife
- land use
- drought
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe numbers of livestock and wildlife that can be supported in an arid environment such as the Hoanib River catchment, north-western Namibia, are determined by annual and seasonal availability of…Publication Date 2003
- Non-equilibrium system
- vegetation assessment
- Arid Environment
- vegetation dynamics
- ecosystem ecology
- livestock
- wildlife
- grazing
- rainfall
- land use
- piosphere
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThis chapter discusses the value and future of natural desert ecosystems. The goods and services provided by ecological systems and the natural capital that produce them are critical to the…Publication Date 2002
- desertification
- ecosystem ecology
- southern Africa
- Library Collection RecordAbstract not available.Publication Date 2002
- vegetation dynamics
- ecosystem ecology
- rangelands
- grazing
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordAbstract Species diversity and community structure indices (richness, diversity and evenness) are typically derived from contemporary biological survey atlases to identify conservation areas or to…Publication Date 2002
- biodiversity
- conservation
- ecosystem ecology
- modelling
- land use
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe metaphysiological modelling approach relates aggregated population dynamics to biomass gained from resources consumed, relative to physiological attrition and mortality losses. A GMM (Growth,…Publication Date 2002
- Consumer-resource dynamics
- Herbivore-vegetation systems
- Metaphysiological modelling
- seasonality
- animal production
- diet selection
- modelling
- ecosystem ecology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordSavanna ecosystems are water limited and responsive to rainfall on short time scales, characteristics that can be exploited to estimate fractional cover of trees, grass, and bare soil over large-…Publication Date 2002
- savanna
- ecosystem ecology
- rainfall
- remote sensing
- NDVI values
- soils
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordBush encroachment is a serious environmental and economic problem in Namibia, but little is known about impacts on native reptile diversity. Area-confined visual surveys were used to examine a…Publication Date 2002
- Lizards
- Mabuya
- Pedioplanis
- Lygodactylus
- Bush encroachment
- savanna
- Habitat change
- Namibia
- Africa
- biodiversity
- indigenous encroaching species
- reptiles
- ecosystem ecology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordAcross nearly 100 sampling locations widely distributed within the arid shrubland of Western Australia, we demonstrated a general relationship between landscape function, primary productivity and…Publication Date 2002
- landscape function
- resilience
- Landscape degradation
- primary productivity
- indicators
- patch
- patch-mosaic
- ecosystem ecology
- plant production
- rainfall
- grazing
- sheep
- degradation
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe geology, climates past and present, and soils of Africa are summarized, as are the effects of fire on the vegetation. The vegetation and animals of each major zone – forest, tropical seasonal…Publication Date 2001
- ecosystem ecology
- biodiversity
- southern Africa
- Library Collection RecordSummary Grasslands are located in areas with precipitation ranging between 150 and 1200 mm yr-1 and temperature between 0 and 25 C (Lieth and Whittaker, 1975). Along a precipitation gradient, in…Publication Date 2001
- grasslands
- rainfall
- ecosystem ecology
- southern Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe dynamics of savannah vegetation are still poorly understood. This study aims at analysing land cover changes over the past 20 years in the rangelands area of Narok District, Kenya. To analyse the…Publication Date 2001
- vegetation dynamics
- ecosystem ecology
- land-use
- remote sensing
- climate
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe community structure and abundance of plant-feeding nematodes were studied in four grasslands, which had not been fertilised for 6, 10, 23, and 28 years, respectively. We hypothesised that…Publication Date 2001
- body size
- Feeding strategy
- Food quality
- nematodes
- soil fertility
- succession
- grasslands
- fertilizer
- invertebrates
- ecosystem ecology
- soil nutrients
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordWe investigated the incidence of endozoochory in the semi-arid South African Karoo shrubland and Kalahari savanna by dissecting and germinating seed from dung samples from a wide range of wild…Publication Date 2001
- aardvark
- Aizoaceae
- endozoochory
- bat-eared fox
- Kalahari
- Karoo
- Mesembryanthemaceae
- Ostrich
- ecosystem ecology
- seeds
- germination
- mammals
- insects
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordMany introduced plant species rely on mutualisms in their new habitats to overcome barriers to establishment and to become naturalized and, in some cases, invasive. Mutualisms involving animal-…Publication Date 2000
- Alien invasive species
- seeds
- ecosystem ecology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordA sampling system was devised and used from 1992 to 1996 in annual grassland and open woodland of the south-west Kenyan Rift Valley. The monitoring was designed to detect vegetation changes…Publication Date 2000
- range assessment
- savanna
- transect
- vegetation
- woodland
- ecosystem ecology
- land-use
- management
- rangeland condition
- monitoring
- livestock
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordA vegetation survey of road verges along an urban to rural gradient in the Potchefstroom Municipal Area was conducted. Important applications of these studies include understanding of the role of…Publication Date 2000
- Braun-Blanquet approach
- Dispersal corridors
- roadside vegetation
- vegetation analysis
- ecosystem ecology
- management
- biodiversity
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordMeeting the challenge of sustainable development requires substantial advances in understanding of the interaction of natural and human systems. The emerging ecosystem management paradigm of multiple…Publication Date 1999
- management
- ecosystem ecology
- modelling
- GIS
- economics
- decision support systems
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe overall effects of fire on ecosystems are complex, ranging from the reduction or elimination of aboveground biomass to impacts on belowground physical, chemical and microbial mediated processes.…Publication Date 1999
- fire
- soils
- physical properties
- Microbial ecology
- nutrients
- organic matter
- fire ecology
- sustainability
- Soil Condition
- vegetation dynamics
- ecosystem ecology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordFocusing on the issue of veldt degradation and grazing pressure on rangelands, a simplified model was constructed for a sustainable stocking rate (SR) evaluation of the complex system of semi-arid…Publication Date 1999
- stocking rates
- mixed grazing
- modelling
- Arid and sub-humid regions
- grazing
- degradation
- management
- decision support systems
- biodiversity
- traditional knowledge
- ecosystem ecology
- conservation
- foraging ecology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordWhere species distribution data are inadequate reserve selection procedures have to rely on surrogate measures of biodiversity. The informativeness of land facets (the simplest units of a landscape…Publication Date 1999
- biodiversity
- Surrogates
- Land facets
- Reserve selection
- Priority conservation areas
- conservation
- species richness
- land use
- ecosystem ecology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordSeasonal distribution of rainfall is thought to be important in structuring arid and semi-arid plant communities. Controlled studies of rainfall distribution have proven difficult, especially at the…Publication Date 1999
- Artemisia tridintata
- climate change
- rainout shelters
- precipitation distribution
- rainfall
- vegetation dynamics
- ecosystem ecology
- climate
- management
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordHerbaceous and woody alien plants visible from a moving vehicle were recorded along 1 km roadside transects at 5 km intervals over a distance of 5869 km in the semi-arid and arid Fynbos, Succulent…Publication Date 1998
- Alien invasive species
- rainfall
- ecosystem ecology
- soil classification
- land use
- savanna
- grasslands
- biodiversity
- Phytosociology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe role of herbivores in controlling plant species richness is a critical issue in the conservation and management of grassland biodiversity. Numerous field experiments in grassland plant…Publication Date 1998
- herbivores
- grassland
- diversity
- species richness
- environmental gradients
- grasslands
- biodiversity
- conservation
- management
- livestock
- soil fertility
- rainfall
- ecosystem ecology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordEnvironmental weeds are an escalating problem worldwide. Integrated control is unable to keep up with the demands for management strategies for existing and new, potentially invasive plant species.…Publication Date 1998
- Environmental weeds
- management
- Priority areas
- surveys
- integrated control
- rehabilitation
- Weeds
- Alien invasive species
- ecosystem ecology
- conservation
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordNomadic larks in the semi-arid Nama-Karoo, South Africa, depend on patches of temporally suitable habitat for breeding. These patches occur where rain has recently fallen, where there has been growth…Publication Date 1998
- semi-arid
- Nomadic birds
- modelling
- Patchy environment
- Stochastic environment
- Protected area design
- biodiversity
- birds
- conservation
- ecosystem ecology
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordTwo pairs of a natural and an artificial watering point in each of the four largest land systems in the Kruger National Park, South Africa were randomly selected for study. The herbaceous community…Publication Date 1998
- piosphere
- grazing pressure
- watering points
- water provision
- Kruger National Park
- national parks
- ecosystem ecology
- vegetation dynamics
- rangeland condition
- degradation
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordWe tested the potential of artificial neural networks (ANNs) as predictive tools in ecology. We compared the performance of ANNs and regression models (RM) in predicting ecosystems attributes, with…Publication Date 1997
- aboveground net primary production
- Artificial neural networks
- grasslands
- normalized difference vegetation index
- prediction
- Regression models
- remote sensing
- ecosystem ecology
- NDVI values
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordIt has long been recognized that alternative vegetation states may occur in terrestrial grazing systems. This phenomenon may be of great importance as small environmental fluctuations may lead to…Publication Date 1997
- vegetation dynamics
- grazing
- grasslands
- ecosystem ecology
- degradation
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordThe amount and quality of inputs into soil organic matter will be altered by both climate and landuse change. The increase in growth of plants caused by increasing CO2 concentration implies not only…Publication Date 1997
- elevated carbon dioxide
- Decomposition
- organic residues
- secondary chemicals
- soil organic carbon
- climate change
- land use
- plant autecology
- carbon dioxide
- modelling
- ecosystem dynamics
- ecosystem ecology
- plant production
- management
- Africa
- Library Collection RecordAlteration of land use will continue to be the dominant driver of environmental change in the tropics for the next several decades. It can take the form of fundamental vegetation cover transformation…Publication Date 1997
- global change
- tropical ecosystems
- Land cover
- climate
- atmosphere
- land use
- landscape ecology
- management
- climate change
- ecosystem ecology
- Africa