{"id":{"repo_id":"cape-town","oai_identifier":"oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/6132"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cape-town/oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/6132","repository":{"repo_id":"cape-town","name":"University of Cape Town","base_url":"https://open.uct.ac.za/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Decomposition of grasses in a South African savanna","abstract":"Tropical and subtropical grasslands ecologists have ignored decomposition, because of the important role it plays in nutrient cycling, in terms of understanding how grass litter gets to the soil during the dry season. The major flaw is in the methods employed to investigate decomposition. In the prairies and steppes, litterbag methods employed investigate decomposition when litter is on the soil, even though the importance of carryover from standing litter is recognized. Standing litter results in high carryover which slows down decomposition thereby hindering productivity in the next growing season. I therefore decided to investigate the processes of photodegradation and microbial decomposition, as well as carryover and also how these processes differ between mesic and semi-arid grasslands. Since previous studies suggest that tallgrass prairies experience more carryover and slower decomposition than shortgrass prairies, I therefore hypothesized in this thesis that mesic grasslands will experience carryover and slower decomposition than semi-arid grasslands.","abstract_html":"Tropical and subtropical grasslands ecologists have ignored decomposition, because of the important role it plays in nutrient cycling, in terms of understanding how grass litter gets to the soil during the dry season. The major flaw is in the methods employed to investigate decomposition. In the prairies and steppes, litterbag methods employed investigate decomposition when litter is on the soil, even though the importance of carryover from standing litter is recognized. Standing litter results in high carryover which slows down decomposition thereby hindering productivity in the next growing season. I therefore decided to investigate the processes of photodegradation and microbial decomposition, as well as carryover and also how these processes differ between mesic and semi-arid grasslands. Since previous studies suggest that tallgrass prairies experience more carryover and slower decomposition than shortgrass prairies, I therefore hypothesized in this thesis that mesic grasslands will experience carryover and slower decomposition than semi-arid grasslands.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Masubelele, Mmoto Leonard"],"institution":"Department of Biological Sciences","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Bond, William J","Stock, WD"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2007,"date_issued":"2007","date_published":"2007","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:31Z","subjects":[],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6132","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Bond, William J","Stock, WD"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Masubelele, Mmoto Leonard"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-08-13T14:05:09Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-08-13T14:05:09Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2007"]},{"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":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Masters"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["MSc"]}]},{"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/11427/6132"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-124)"]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Tropical and subtropical grasslands ecologists have ignored decomposition, because of the important role it plays in nutrient cycling, in terms of understanding how grass litter gets to the soil during the dry season. The major flaw is in the methods employed to investigate decomposition. In the prairies and steppes, litterbag methods employed investigate decomposition when litter is on the soil, even though the importance of carryover from standing litter is recognized. Standing litter results in high carryover which slows down decomposition thereby hindering productivity in the next growing season. I therefore decided to investigate the processes of photodegradation and microbial decomposition, as well as carryover and also how these processes differ between mesic and semi-arid grasslands. Since previous studies suggest that tallgrass prairies experience more carryover and slower decomposition than shortgrass prairies, I therefore hypothesized in this thesis that mesic grasslands will experience carryover and slower decomposition than semi-arid grasslands."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Decomposition of grasses in a South African savanna"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Bond, William J","Stock, WD"],"dc:creator":["Masubelele, Mmoto Leonard"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-08-13T14:05:09Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-08-13T14:05:09Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2007"],"dc:description":["Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-124)"],"dc:description.abstract":["Tropical and subtropical grasslands ecologists have ignored decomposition, because of the important role it plays in nutrient cycling, in terms of understanding how grass litter gets to the soil during the dry season. The major flaw is in the methods employed to investigate decomposition. In the prairies and steppes, litterbag methods employed investigate decomposition when litter is on the soil, even though the importance of carryover from standing litter is recognized. Standing litter results in high carryover which slows down decomposition thereby hindering productivity in the next growing season. I therefore decided to investigate the processes of photodegradation and microbial decomposition, as well as carryover and also how these processes differ between mesic and semi-arid grasslands. Since previous studies suggest that tallgrass prairies experience more carryover and slower decomposition than shortgrass prairies, I therefore hypothesized in this thesis that mesic grasslands will experience carryover and slower decomposition than semi-arid grasslands."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6132"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher.department":["Department of Biological Sciences"],"dc:publisher.institution":["University of Cape Town"],"dc:title":["Decomposition of grasses in a South African savanna"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["Masters"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["MSc"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:31Z"}