Soil and vegetation differences across ecological boundaries in an arid South African ecosystem

Osman, Rua; Masubelele, Mmoto L.; Khomo, Lesego; Chimphango, S.B.M.

doi:10.1111/aje.12612

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…It is also worth noting that several studies have shown that soil pH is a key factor that directly affects soil organic matter Frontiers in Environmental Science frontiersin.org and thus vegetation conditions (Moreno-de las Heras et al, 2016;Osman et al, 2019). However, during the preliminary experiments of this study, the pH did not vary much between samples, and the variation between samples was <1, which was not the same as the trend of organic matter, nor was it related to nitrogen and phosphorus content, so the pH was not used as one of the main research indicators in the subsequent experiments.…”

Section: Spatial Pattern Of Plant Variables and Soil Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fine-scale analysis of edge effect of shrub patch in different grassland types

Wang

Jing

Ren

et al. 2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Boundaries may have important effects on landscape patterns, landscape change mechanisms, and dynamic processes. However, little is known about the dynamic mechanism of patch boundary changes at a fine scale. To elucidate the characteristics of grassland patches at fine scales and to provide a reference for the mechanism of change and development direction of patchy landscapes. In this paper, the patch of different grassland types in Xilingol League was studied by NMDS, RDA, and SEM methods, to analyze the vegetation community and soil characteristics of surface soil and the relationship between them: The changes in soil vegetation community and soil characteristics were completely different among the three grassland types, and the abrupt changes of vegetation index and soil properties were different. Vegetation index mostly ranged from −1 m to 0 m, and soil index mostly ranged from −0.5 m to 1 m. Fine-scale vegetation and soil boundaries are well defined, vegetation boundaries are mostly between −1 and 0 m and soil boundaries are mostly between −0.5–1 m, and soil properties have a clear influence on plant characteristics. The difference in organic matter, nitrogen, and phosphorus content is an important factor affecting the change of patch boundary, the distribution of the RDA results showed that the organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus contents in all three grasslands explained >70% of the environmental factors. The emergence of annual vegetation involves a process of succession, specifically, the nature of the underlying soil determines the type of plants at the boundary. The dynamic characteristics of the soil-plant mutual-feed mechanism determine the location and variation of patch boundaries to adapt to disturbance states. The results of this study provide insight into how boundaries respond to changes in environmental conditions and drive dynamic changes at the landscape level.

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Section: Spatial Pattern Of Plant Variables and Soil Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fine-scale analysis of edge effect of shrub patch in different grassland types

Wang

Jing

Ren

et al. 2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…Altitudes range from 316 to 1640 m a.s.l. (Osman et al, 2019). The park is underlain by the Karoo Supergroup, mainly shales from the Dwyka and Ecca Formations to the west and central parts, and the Beaufort Group capping the Roggeveld on the eastern edge.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The area is famous for flamboyant displays of annual flowers following good rains. Grass species are rare and confined to isolated sandy patches on the plains (van der Merwe et al, 2015., Osman et al, 2019. The diversity of succulent plant species is exceptionally high by world standards (Mucina & Rutherford, 2006).…”

Section: °E 32°smentioning

confidence: 99%

Imprint of overgrazing on the soil and vegetation of fertility islands in the degraded succulent Karoo, South Africa

et al. 2021

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Islands of fertility (IOF) emerge when vegetation exerts such a considerable influence on soil properties that sub-canopies become significantly more fertile than inter-canopies. How confounding phenomena such as grazing patterns, seedbank dynamics and temporal changes impact IOF, has not been thoroughly examined. Soil and vegetation characteristics of 43 IOF in the Tankwa Karoo were surveyed along a rainfall gradient spanning three plant communities. Sixteen were in the Tankwa Karoo (TK) plant community, 14 in the Tankwa Wash (TW) and 13 in the Tankwa Escarpment (TE). The IOF were identified from aerial photos as clumps of shrubs separated by bare patches. Soils were described in 2014 and the seedbank composition in 2014

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“…Small‐scale boundaries usually indicate strong and abrupt changes in environmental conditions; often with a similarly abrupt biological response (e.g. represented in altered species composition; Danz et al, 2013; Schmiedel et al, 2015; Osman et al, 2019). Along steep gradients, environmental filtering represents a main process sorting plant communities by excluding those species from a site that cannot cope with its abiotic properties (Kraft et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Partitioned beta diversity patterns of plants across sharp and distinct boundaries of quartz habitat islands

Eibes

Oldeland

Irl

et al. 2021

J Vegetation Science

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Questions Habitat islands are often characterized by the presence of more or less sharp boundaries to adjacent matrix habitats. However, knowledge on boundaries of natural habitat islands is scarce, especially regarding patterns of beta diversity and its two underlying components: species turnover and nestedness. We therefore aim to quantify the effects of fine‐scaled and sharp boundaries of quartz islands (quartz gravel‐covered soils) on the different components of plant beta diversity and how they are linked to different soil environmental drivers. Location Knersvlakte, Western Cape, South Africa. Methods We sampled plant species richness in 56 fine‐scale transects of 6 m × 1 m plots across eight different boundary types (four quartz island to matrix, four between habitats on quartz islands). Soil depth and chemistry (pH, electrical conductivity) were analyzed for each 1 m2 plot. Differences in the two beta diversity components (turnover and nestedness) for each boundary type were tested by t tests. We used linear models to test relationships between species and environmental dissimilarity. Results All boundary types showed high beta diversity. Species turnover was the prevailing component for six boundary types, the nestedness component was only important for two boundary types. We found a significant linear increase of species dissimilarity with increasing dissimilarity in soil pH and distinct plant communities for the habitat types, but no significant increase for electrical conductivity or soil depth. Conclusions The spatial distinctiveness of the quartz islands leads to sharp boundaries, which result in high beta diversity, mainly through species turnover. This reflects the high levels of diversification and adaptation of the local plant communities. Nestedness occurred at two boundaries to the matrix, indicating that the latter does not necessarily represent an impermeable boundary for all species of the respective ecosystem. Studying diversity patterns across boundaries contributes to the question of applicability of island biogeography theory to habitat islands.

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Soil and vegetation differences across ecological boundaries in an arid South African ecosystem

Cited by 6 publications

References 37 publications

Fine-scale analysis of edge effect of shrub patch in different grassland types

Fine-scale analysis of edge effect of shrub patch in different grassland types

Imprint of overgrazing on the soil and vegetation of fertility islands in the degraded succulent Karoo, South Africa

Partitioned beta diversity patterns of plants across sharp and distinct boundaries of quartz habitat islands

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