The effect of herbivores and humans on the Sand Forest species of Maputaland, northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
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Date
Authors
Gaugris, Jerome Yves
Van Rooyen, Margaretha W.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Springer
Abstract
Sand Forest in the Maputaland region of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa is deemed
the most valuable, but also probably the most complex vegetation type of this part of the
Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany hotspot of biodiversity. However, Sand Forest is under threat
from the current human population growth in that region as well as uncontrolled increases in
animal numbers in conservation areas. In this study the impacts of herbivores and humans
on the state of woody resources at two sites under differing utilisation regimes were
compared. Sand Forest was found to be a complex assemblage of tree communities defined
by different canopy and subcanopy levels. Although marked differences in abundance we
noted for selected species at the different sites, Sand Forest was still dominated by finegrained
species with an ideal population structure under both utilisation regimes. The finegrained
nature of Sand Forest implies that regeneration depends on the creation of small
canopy gaps either by natural processes, humans or elephants, while the creation of large
gaps could transform it into woodland. Management of conservation areas where Sand
Forest occurs should therefore concentrate efforts on regulating animal populations to levels
that provide gap properties that favour forest regeneration.
Description
Keywords
Elephant, Fine-grain forest, Gaps, Sand Forest, Size class distribution, Succession, Vegetation dynamics
Sustainable Development Goals
Citation
Gaugris, JY & Van Rooyen, MW 2011, 'The effect of herbivores and humans on the Sand Forest species of Maputaland, northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa', Ecological Research, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 365-376, doi: 10.1007/s11284-010-0791-2.