{"id":{"repo_id":"cape-town","oai_identifier":"oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/7723"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cape-town/oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/7723","repository":{"repo_id":"cape-town","name":"University of Cape Town","base_url":"https://open.uct.ac.za/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Floristic and dynamics of Sand Forest, a subtropical dry forest type in South Africa","abstract":"Unlike most dry forests, Sand Forest has been largely untransformed by human activity until very recently, and provides a rare opportunity to investigate the dynamics of old-growth dry forests. Twinspan classification and DCA ordination (Detrended Correspondence Analysis, an indirect gradient analysis) of a wide range of forest samples in north-eastern KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, indicated that Tropical Dry Forest species composition differs substantially from all other forests, and further, that Sand Forest samples, which occur on inland dune sands of Pleistocene origin, form a cohesive group with a characteristic set of species, including Cleistanthus schlechteri, Hymenocardia ulmoides, Psydrax obovata, Cotron pseudapulchellus and Drypetes arguta. The very high dominance of two canopy species, C. schlechteri and Newtonia hildebrandtii, at the majority of sites, implies that ecological functioning is similar across the geographical range in north-eastern Kwazulu-Natal. However, turnover of subdominant species between two recognisable Sand Forest subtypes (Western and Eastern Sand Forest) emphasises the need to conserve the full range of extant forest. Further sampling for this thesis was generally replicated in at least two sites representing the range of Sand Forest structure and composition.","abstract_html":"Unlike most dry forests, Sand Forest has been largely untransformed by human activity until very recently, and provides a rare opportunity to investigate the dynamics of old-growth dry forests. Twinspan classification and DCA ordination (Detrended Correspondence Analysis, an indirect gradient analysis) of a wide range of forest samples in north-eastern KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, indicated that Tropical Dry Forest species composition differs substantially from all other forests, and further, that Sand Forest samples, which occur on inland dune sands of Pleistocene origin, form a cohesive group with a characteristic set of species, including Cleistanthus schlechteri, Hymenocardia ulmoides, Psydrax obovata, Cotron pseudapulchellus and Drypetes arguta. The very high dominance of two canopy species, C. schlechteri and Newtonia hildebrandtii, at the majority of sites, implies that ecological functioning is similar across the geographical range in north-eastern Kwazulu-Natal. However, turnover of subdominant species between two recognisable Sand Forest subtypes (Western and Eastern Sand Forest) emphasises the need to conserve the full range of extant forest. Further sampling for this thesis was generally replicated in at least two sites representing the range of Sand Forest structure and composition.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kirkwood, Donovan"],"institution":"Department of Biological Sciences","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Midgley, Jeremy J"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2002,"date_issued":"2002","date_published":"2002","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:39Z","subjects":[],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7723","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Midgley, Jeremy J"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kirkwood, Donovan"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-09-29T07:28:15Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-09-29T07:28:15Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2002"]},{"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":["Doctoral Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Doctoral"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["PhD"]}]},{"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/11427/7723"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Includes bibliographical references."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Unlike most dry forests, Sand Forest has been largely untransformed by human activity until very recently, and provides a rare opportunity to investigate the dynamics of old-growth dry forests. Twinspan classification and DCA ordination (Detrended Correspondence Analysis, an indirect gradient analysis) of a wide range of forest samples in north-eastern KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, indicated that Tropical Dry Forest species composition differs substantially from all other forests, and further, that Sand Forest samples, which occur on inland dune sands of Pleistocene origin, form a cohesive group with a characteristic set of species, including Cleistanthus schlechteri, Hymenocardia ulmoides, Psydrax obovata, Cotron pseudapulchellus and Drypetes arguta. The very high dominance of two canopy species, C. schlechteri and Newtonia hildebrandtii, at the majority of sites, implies that ecological functioning is similar across the geographical range in north-eastern Kwazulu-Natal. However, turnover of subdominant species between two recognisable Sand Forest subtypes (Western and Eastern Sand Forest) emphasises the need to conserve the full range of extant forest. Further sampling for this thesis was generally replicated in at least two sites representing the range of Sand Forest structure and composition."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Floristic and dynamics of Sand Forest, a subtropical dry forest type in South Africa"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Midgley, Jeremy J"],"dc:creator":["Kirkwood, Donovan"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-09-29T07:28:15Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-09-29T07:28:15Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2002"],"dc:description":["Includes bibliographical references."],"dc:description.abstract":["Unlike most dry forests, Sand Forest has been largely untransformed by human activity until very recently, and provides a rare opportunity to investigate the dynamics of old-growth dry forests. Twinspan classification and DCA ordination (Detrended Correspondence Analysis, an indirect gradient analysis) of a wide range of forest samples in north-eastern KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, indicated that Tropical Dry Forest species composition differs substantially from all other forests, and further, that Sand Forest samples, which occur on inland dune sands of Pleistocene origin, form a cohesive group with a characteristic set of species, including Cleistanthus schlechteri, Hymenocardia ulmoides, Psydrax obovata, Cotron pseudapulchellus and Drypetes arguta. The very high dominance of two canopy species, C. schlechteri and Newtonia hildebrandtii, at the majority of sites, implies that ecological functioning is similar across the geographical range in north-eastern Kwazulu-Natal. However, turnover of subdominant species between two recognisable Sand Forest subtypes (Western and Eastern Sand Forest) emphasises the need to conserve the full range of extant forest. Further sampling for this thesis was generally replicated in at least two sites representing the range of Sand Forest structure and composition."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7723"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher.department":["Department of Biological Sciences"],"dc:publisher.institution":["University of Cape Town"],"dc:title":["Floristic and dynamics of Sand Forest, a subtropical dry forest type in South Africa"],"dc:type":["Doctoral Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["Doctoral"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["PhD"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:39Z"}