{"id":{"repo_id":"cape-town","oai_identifier":"oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/26184"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cape-town/oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/26184","repository":{"repo_id":"cape-town","name":"University of Cape Town","base_url":"https://open.uct.ac.za/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Predicting the distribution of thickets and forests on the Cape Peninsula, Cape Province using linear regression analyses","abstract":"Forest and thicket communities are distributed throughout fynbos. The species constituents exhibit life history characteristics significantly different from fynbos species, in that reproductive biology and recruitment are not coupled to fire. The limited occurrence of forests and thickets suggest that there may be specific abiotic factors which limit their distribution. In an attempt to determine which factors are significant in prediction, data from 600 plots covering a substantial part of the Cape Peninsula was analyzed using linear regression models. Although trends in predictive variables were detected for both forest and thickets, the models were largely unsuccessful. This was due both to the lack of inclusion or poor transformation of certain factors and the fact that not all potential forest and thicket sites are filled. The role of fire as the stochastic element in the system as well as the significance of measured environmental variables in determining forest and thicket location is discussed.","abstract_html":"Forest and thicket communities are distributed throughout fynbos. The species constituents exhibit life history characteristics significantly different from fynbos species, in that reproductive biology and recruitment are not coupled to fire. The limited occurrence of forests and thickets suggest that there may be specific abiotic factors which limit their distribution. In an attempt to determine which factors are significant in prediction, data from 600 plots covering a substantial part of the Cape Peninsula was analyzed using linear regression models. Although trends in predictive variables were detected for both forest and thickets, the models were largely unsuccessful. This was due both to the lack of inclusion or poor transformation of certain factors and the fact that not all potential forest and thicket sites are filled. The role of fire as the stochastic element in the system as well as the significance of measured environmental variables in determining forest and thicket location is discussed.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Simmons, Mark T"],"institution":"Department of Biological Sciences","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Cowling, Richard M"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1993,"date_issued":"1993","date_published":"1993","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:26Z","subjects":[],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26184","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Cowling, Richard M"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Simmons, Mark T"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2017-11-13T08:18:52Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-11-13T08:18:52Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["1993"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Department of Biological Sciences"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of Cape Town"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Bachelor Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Honours"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["BSc (Hons)"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26184"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Forest and thicket communities are distributed throughout fynbos. The species constituents exhibit life history characteristics significantly different from fynbos species, in that reproductive biology and recruitment are not coupled to fire. The limited occurrence of forests and thickets suggest that there may be specific abiotic factors which limit their distribution. In an attempt to determine which factors are significant in prediction, data from 600 plots covering a substantial part of the Cape Peninsula was analyzed using linear regression models. Although trends in predictive variables were detected for both forest and thickets, the models were largely unsuccessful. This was due both to the lack of inclusion or poor transformation of certain factors and the fact that not all potential forest and thicket sites are filled. The role of fire as the stochastic element in the system as well as the significance of measured environmental variables in determining forest and thicket location is discussed."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Predicting the distribution of thickets and forests on the Cape Peninsula, Cape Province using linear regression analyses"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Cowling, Richard M"],"dc:creator":["Simmons, Mark T"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2017-11-13T08:18:52Z"],"dc:date.available":["2017-11-13T08:18:52Z"],"dc:date.issued":["1993"],"dc:description.abstract":["Forest and thicket communities are distributed throughout fynbos. The species constituents exhibit life history characteristics significantly different from fynbos species, in that reproductive biology and recruitment are not coupled to fire. The limited occurrence of forests and thickets suggest that there may be specific abiotic factors which limit their distribution. In an attempt to determine which factors are significant in prediction, data from 600 plots covering a substantial part of the Cape Peninsula was analyzed using linear regression models. Although trends in predictive variables were detected for both forest and thickets, the models were largely unsuccessful. This was due both to the lack of inclusion or poor transformation of certain factors and the fact that not all potential forest and thicket sites are filled. The role of fire as the stochastic element in the system as well as the significance of measured environmental variables in determining forest and thicket location is discussed."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26184"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher.department":["Department of Biological Sciences"],"dc:publisher.institution":["University of Cape Town"],"dc:title":["Predicting the distribution of thickets and forests on the Cape Peninsula, Cape Province using linear regression analyses"],"dc:type":["Bachelor Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["Honours"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["BSc (Hons)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:26Z"}