Management of critically endangered renosterveld fragments in the Overberg, South Africa
type: CreativeWork
description: Lowland renosterveld is a relatively fertile, shale-derived vegetation type found within the FynbosBiome of South Africa, a biome which is recognized as one of the world’s smallest, yet richest plant kingdoms. Due to the fact that renosterveld tends to be dominated by a handful of small-leaved asteraceous shrub species, it creates the illusion that it is a homogeneous habitat with low levels of alpha diversity and species turnover. This is exacerbated by the widely accepted, although not proven, hypothesis which states that current-day renosterveld is derived from a pristine C4 grassland and that the dominance of asteraceous shrubs is solely due to more than 300 years of mismanagement in the form of overgrazing. This process of degradation is believed to have started with the arrival of the European settlers who exterminated the large herds of free-roaming ungulates and replaced them with livestock (sheep and cattle), which, through their selective feeding habits and their sedentary manner of grazing, altered the system from a grassland to a shrubland. The debate over what renosterveld actually is, combined with a dearth of knowledge as to its ecological functioning, has meant that management recommendations are largely based on a combination of guess-work and inferences from studies in adjacent and similar fynbos and karoo habitats. Additionally, renosterveld has been severely transformed for agricultural development, rendering it a Critically Endangered vegetation type, with 4- 10 % of the original extent remaining.In this thesis, I focus on lowland renosterveld in the Overberg (also referred to as South Coast Renosterveld), Western Cape, South Africa. I investigate, through the use of soil carbon-isotope analyses, the grassy-shrubland vs. shrubby grassland debate and assess whether or not the theory that renosterveld is merely a degraded grassland has merit. I evaluate diversity levels at the alpha, beta and gamma scales and contrast these with comparable Mediter…
abstract: Lowland renosterveld is a relatively fertile, shale-derived vegetation type found within the FynbosBiome of South Africa, a biome which is recognized as one of the world’s smallest, yet richest plant kingdoms. Due to the fact that renosterveld tends to be dominated by a handful of small-leaved asteraceous shrub species, it creates the illusion that it is a homogeneous habitat with low levels of alpha diversity and species turnover. This is exacerbated by the widely accepted, although not proven, hypothesis which states that current-day renosterveld is derived from a pristine C4 grassland and that the dominance of asteraceous shrubs is solely due to more than 300 years of mismanagement in the form of overgrazing. This process of degradation is believed to have started with the arrival of the European settlers who exterminated the large herds of free-roaming ungulates and replaced them with livestock (sheep and cattle), which, through their selective feeding habits and their sedentary manner of grazing, altered the system from a grassland to a shrubland. The debate over what renosterveld actually is, combined with a dearth of knowledge as to its ecological functioning, has meant that management recommendations are largely based on a combination of guess-work and inferences from studies in adjacent and similar fynbos and karoo habitats. Additionally, renosterveld has been severely transformed for agricultural development, rendering it a Critically Endangered vegetation type, with 4- 10 % of the original extent remaining.In this thesis, I focus on lowland renosterveld in the Overberg (also referred to as South Coast Renosterveld), Western Cape, South Africa. I investigate, through the use of soil carbon-isotope analyses, the grassy-shrubland vs. shrubby grassland debate and assess whether or not the theory that renosterveld is merely a degraded grassland has merit. I evaluate diversity levels at the alpha, beta and gamma scales and contrast these with comparable Mediter…
author: Curtis, Odette Elisabeth
language: eng
date published: 2013
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:23:06Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Department of Biological Sciences

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/10314