A revised method for assessing veld condition

Can heavy grazing on communal land elevate plant species richness levels in the Grassland Biome of South Africa?

“…The increaser-decreaser pattern of response to grazing is an entrenched paradigm for range management in South Africa (for example, Foran et al 1978;Tainton et al 1980;Heard et al 1986;Hardy et al 1999) but is in need of review in the light of accumulating contradictory evidence (O'Connor et al 2003). Classification of increaser and decreaser species was found in a continent-wide review in Area (m 2 ) LU LU lower 95% confidence limit HU HU upper 95% confidence limit Table 2 generally confirms that typically published elsewhere although several increaserdecreaser species classification schemes were found to be difficult to interpret especially with only two points of reference along the grazing gradient.…”

Rangeland dynamics in southern Ethiopia: (1) Botanical composition of grasses and soil characteristics in relation to land-use and distance from water in semi-arid Borana rangelands

“…Classification of grasses was based on the succession theory described by Dyksterhuis (1949) and on the ecological information for the arid to semi-arid regions of South Africa (Foran, 1976;Tainton et al, 1980;Vorster, 1982). Accordingly, the species were grouped into (i) highly desirable species: those which occur in rangeland in good condition and decrease with over grazing (decreasers), (ii) desirable species: those which occur in rangeland in good condition and increase with moderate over grazing (increaser IIa), and (iii) less desirable species: those which occur in rangeland in good condition and increase with severe/extreme overgrazing (increasers IIb and IIc).…”

Linking degradation assessment to sustainable land management: A decision support system for Kalahari pastoralists

“…increasing the number of variables and sophistication of analysis (e.g. Heard et al, 1986;Tainton et al, 1980).…”