The impact of grazing along an environmental gradient in the Kamiesberg, South Africa

The Kamiesberg Mountain range, which is situated within the arid Succulent Karoo biome, South Africa, is internationally-recognised for its high conservation value and forms the study site for this project. The Kamiesberg is straddled by the Leliefontein communal area, which has been stocked for many years at twice the rate of the adjacent private rangelands. This presents an opportunity to test whether and how high stock numbers impact on vegetation. In the literature the drivers of rangeland ecology are discussed predominantly in the context of the equilibrium versus non-equilibrium debate, where density-dependent or climatic factors influence the vegetation respectively. Recent dissatisfaction with these paradigms has lead to the exploration of models better placed to incorporate the complex dynamics of rangelands.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Biological Sciences

Year dc:date.issued

2008

Author dc:creator

• Anderson, Philippa Mary Levick

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Hoffman, Timm

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6221

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/6221