Spatio-temporal distribution of grass and shrubs at the ecotone between an arid grassland and succulent shrubland : ecological interactions and the influence of soils
Doctoral Thesis
2007
Permanent link to this Item
Authors
Journal Title
Link to Journal
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Publisher
University of Cape Town
Department
Faculty
License
Series
Abstract
This thesis presents ecological investigations of vegetation at an ecotone between the Namaqualand shrublands and Bushmanland arid grassland at the climatic transition between the predominantly winter rainfall Succulent Karoo and the predominantly summer rainfall Nama-Karoo biomess. The work focused on the determinants of grass and succulent shrub vegetation characterising the ecotone, and on determining the current and past distribution of this vegetation. A combination of detailed community the current and past distribution of this vegetation. A combination of detailed community level investigations (both observational and experimental), and a variety of remotely sensed data and techniques were applied to capture processes and patterns at different scales. In the first set of investigations, I have investigated the role of soil and competition on vegetation patterns. Secondly, field data were combined with remote sensing technology to establish the current distribution of grasses and shrubs along the ecotone, and to determine how this vegetation has changed over the past 20 years.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 110-122).
Keywords
Reference:
Shiponeni, N. 2007. Spatio-temporal distribution of grass and shrubs at the ecotone between an arid grassland and succulent shrubland : ecological interactions and the influence of soils. University of Cape Town.