What controls South African vegetation - climate or fire?

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorBond, W J
dc.contributor.authorMidgley, G F
dc.contributor.authorWoodward, F I
dc.date.accessioned2016-11-15T14:50:26Z
dc.date.available2016-11-15T14:50:26Z
dc.date.issued2003
dc.date.updated2016-01-05T10:21:26Z
dc.description.abstractThe role of fire in determining biome distribution in South Africa has long been debated. Acocks labelled veld types that he thought were ‘fire climax’ as ‘false’. He hypothesised that their current extent was due to extensive forest clearance by Iron Age farmers. We tested the relative importance of fire and climate in determining ecosystem characteristics by simulating potential vegetation of South Africa with and without fire using a Dynamic Global Vegetation Model (DGVM). The simulations suggest that most of the eastern half of the country could support much higher stem biomass without fire and that the vegetation would be dominated by trees instead of grasses. Fynbos regions in mesic winter rainfall areas would also become tree dominated. We collated results of long term fire exclusion studies to further test the relative importance of fire and climate. These show that grassy ecosystems with rainfall > 650mm tend towards fire-sensitive forests with fire excluded. Areas below 650mm showed changes in tree density and size but no trend of changing composition to forest. We discuss recent evidence that C4 grasslands first appeared between 6 and 8M years BP, long before the appearance of modern humans. However these grassy ecosystems are among the most recently developed biomes on the planet. We briefly discuss the importance of fire in promoting their spread in the late Tertiary.
dc.identifierhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0254-6299(15)30362-8
dc.identifier.apacitationBond, W. J., Midgley, G. F., & Woodward, F. I. (2003). What controls South African vegetation - climate or fire?. <i>South African Journal of Botany</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22540en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationBond, W J, G F Midgley, and F I Woodward "What controls South African vegetation - climate or fire?." <i>South African Journal of Botany</i> (2003) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22540en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationBond, W. J., Midgley, G. F., Woodward, F. I., Hoffman, M. T., & Cowling, R. M. (2003). What controls South African vegetation—climate or fire?. South African Journal of Botany, 69(1), 79-91.
dc.identifier.ris TY - AU - Bond, W J AU - Midgley, G F AU - Woodward, F I AB - The role of fire in determining biome distribution in South Africa has long been debated. Acocks labelled veld types that he thought were ‘fire climax’ as ‘false’. He hypothesised that their current extent was due to extensive forest clearance by Iron Age farmers. We tested the relative importance of fire and climate in determining ecosystem characteristics by simulating potential vegetation of South Africa with and without fire using a Dynamic Global Vegetation Model (DGVM). The simulations suggest that most of the eastern half of the country could support much higher stem biomass without fire and that the vegetation would be dominated by trees instead of grasses. Fynbos regions in mesic winter rainfall areas would also become tree dominated. We collated results of long term fire exclusion studies to further test the relative importance of fire and climate. These show that grassy ecosystems with rainfall > 650mm tend towards fire-sensitive forests with fire excluded. Areas below 650mm showed changes in tree density and size but no trend of changing composition to forest. We discuss recent evidence that C4 grasslands first appeared between 6 and 8M years BP, long before the appearance of modern humans. However these grassy ecosystems are among the most recently developed biomes on the planet. We briefly discuss the importance of fire in promoting their spread in the late Tertiary. DA - 2003 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town J1 - South African Journal of Botany LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2003 T1 - What controls South African vegetation - climate or fire? TI - What controls South African vegetation - climate or fire? UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22540 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/22540
dc.identifier.urihttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0254629915303628
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationBond WJ, Midgley GF, Woodward FI. What controls South African vegetation - climate or fire?. South African Journal of Botany. 2003; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22540.en_ZA
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Biological Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.sourceSouth African Journal of Botany
dc.source.urihttp://www.journals.elsevier.com/south-african-journal-of-botany
dc.titleWhat controls South African vegetation - climate or fire?
dc.typeJournal Article
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
article_2003_bond_w_j_midgley_g_f_woodward_f_i.pdf
Size:
748.71 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.72 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download
Collections
Journal Articles