An investigation of riparian vegetation recovery following invasive alien tree clearing in the Western Cape

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dc.contributor.advisorHolmes, P Men_ZA
dc.contributor.advisorRichardson, D Men_ZA
dc.contributor.authorBlanchard, Ryanen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2014-08-13T14:15:50Z
dc.date.available2014-08-13T14:15:50Z
dc.date.issued2008en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes abstract.en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references (leaves 113-134).en_ZA
dc.description.abstractRiparian zones are dynamic, as a result of varying levels of disturbance from natural flooding regimes, and this makes them particularly susceptible habitats to invasion by alien plants. In South Africa, particularly the Fynbos Biome, closed-stand invasions by alien Acacia and Eucalyptus species have been able to develop within riparian areas. Their impacts on water resources and biodiversity have been countered by manual clearing in order to protect the valuable ecosystem services provided by intact riparian zones, as well as the biodiversity of indigenous communities. The Working for Water programme is tasked with the important role of controlling invasive alien plants with an assumption that indigenous vegetation will recover naturally. Current management objectives are to reduce above ground biomass of invasive alien plants by labour intensive means, after which indigenous vegetation is usually left to recover without further intervention. However, it is unclear to what extent natural recovery can be achieved. The main aims of this study were to ascertain the nature of riparian vegetation recovery, as well as determine which clearing treatment was most successful in promoting recovery. This was achieved by focusing on: 1) the recovery of species composition and biodiversity, 2) recovery of vegetation structure (assumed to be a surrogate for ecosystem function) and 3) whether a particular clearing treatment best promoted indigenous riparian vegetation recovery. Reference sites (control), as determined by Prins et aI., (2004), were compared to alien impacted sites in order to analyse variation among vegetation variables. Three initial clearing treatments were identified, namely: Fell Only (trees are felled and slash left on site), Fell & Remove (slash is removed from the riparian zone) and Fell & Bum (the slash is left for six months to a year before it is burnt).en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationBlanchard, R. (2008). <i>An investigation of riparian vegetation recovery following invasive alien tree clearing in the Western Cape</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Biological Sciences. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6235en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationBlanchard, Ryan. <i>"An investigation of riparian vegetation recovery following invasive alien tree clearing in the Western Cape."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Biological Sciences, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6235en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationBlanchard, R. 2008. An investigation of riparian vegetation recovery following invasive alien tree clearing in the Western Cape. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Blanchard, Ryan AB - Riparian zones are dynamic, as a result of varying levels of disturbance from natural flooding regimes, and this makes them particularly susceptible habitats to invasion by alien plants. In South Africa, particularly the Fynbos Biome, closed-stand invasions by alien Acacia and Eucalyptus species have been able to develop within riparian areas. Their impacts on water resources and biodiversity have been countered by manual clearing in order to protect the valuable ecosystem services provided by intact riparian zones, as well as the biodiversity of indigenous communities. The Working for Water programme is tasked with the important role of controlling invasive alien plants with an assumption that indigenous vegetation will recover naturally. Current management objectives are to reduce above ground biomass of invasive alien plants by labour intensive means, after which indigenous vegetation is usually left to recover without further intervention. However, it is unclear to what extent natural recovery can be achieved. The main aims of this study were to ascertain the nature of riparian vegetation recovery, as well as determine which clearing treatment was most successful in promoting recovery. This was achieved by focusing on: 1) the recovery of species composition and biodiversity, 2) recovery of vegetation structure (assumed to be a surrogate for ecosystem function) and 3) whether a particular clearing treatment best promoted indigenous riparian vegetation recovery. Reference sites (control), as determined by Prins et aI., (2004), were compared to alien impacted sites in order to analyse variation among vegetation variables. Three initial clearing treatments were identified, namely: Fell Only (trees are felled and slash left on site), Fell & Remove (slash is removed from the riparian zone) and Fell & Bum (the slash is left for six months to a year before it is burnt). DA - 2008 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2008 T1 - An investigation of riparian vegetation recovery following invasive alien tree clearing in the Western Cape TI - An investigation of riparian vegetation recovery following invasive alien tree clearing in the Western Cape UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6235 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/6235
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationBlanchard R. An investigation of riparian vegetation recovery following invasive alien tree clearing in the Western Cape. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Biological Sciences, 2008 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6235en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Biological Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherBotanyen_ZA
dc.titleAn investigation of riparian vegetation recovery following invasive alien tree clearing in the Western Capeen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMScen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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