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Soil chemical and physical properties and their influence on the plant species richness of arid South-West Africa
Thesis (MScConsEcol (Conservation Ecology and Entomology)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007.
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | en_ZA |
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Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch
2007
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| _version_ | 1867614089026469888 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Medinski, Tanya |
| author2 | Esler, Karen J. |
| author_browse | Esler, Karen J. Medinski, Tanya |
| author_facet | Esler, Karen J. Medinski, Tanya |
| author_sort | Medinski, Tanya |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | University of Stellenbosch |
| description | Thesis (MScConsEcol (Conservation Ecology and Entomology)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/2157 |
| institution | Stellenbosch University (South Africa) |
| language | en_ZA |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:46:29.473Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| publishDate | 2007 |
| publishDateRange | 2007 |
| publishDateSort | 2007 |
| publisher | Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch |
| publisherStr | Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| spelling | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/2157 Soil chemical and physical properties and their influence on the plant species richness of arid South-West Africa Medinski, Tanya Esler, Karen J. Mills. A. J. University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Agrisciences. Dept. of Conservation Ecology and Entomology. Dissertations -- Conservation ecology and entomology Theses -- Conservation ecology and entomology Soils -- Africa, Southwestern Plant species diversity -- Africa, Southwestern Plant-soil relationships -- Africa, Southwestern Thesis (MScConsEcol (Conservation Ecology and Entomology)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. Understanding the drivers and mechanisms of changes in plant richness is a basis for making scientifically sound ecological predictions and land use decisions. Of the numerous factors affecting plant richness, soil has a particularly large influence on the composition and structure of terrestrial flora. Infiltrability is one of the most important factors determining soil moisture, and therefore is of particular interest in semi-arid ecosystems, where water is one of the most limiting resources. Other soil properties, such as clay + silt content, electrical conductivity (EC) and pH may also influence plants. Heterogeneity of these properties creates niches with specific conditions, which in turn affects spatial distribution of plants. An understanding of the relationships between plant richness and soil properties is, however, incomplete. The present study has two main foci. Firstly, relationships between plant richness and soil infiltrability, clay + silt, EC and pH (H2O) were investigated, and secondly, due to the strong influence of infiltrability on plant richness, further investigations were undertaken to improve the understanding of the role of particle size fractions, EC of the soil solution and exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) on infiltrability. This study only concentrated on the surface 2 cm thick soil layer (known as pedoderm). Masters 2007-11-22 2007-11-22 2007-11-22 2007 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/2157 en_ZA University of Stellenbosch 1198841 bytes application/pdf application/pdf Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch |
| spellingShingle | Dissertations -- Conservation ecology and entomology Theses -- Conservation ecology and entomology Soils -- Africa, Southwestern Plant species diversity -- Africa, Southwestern Plant-soil relationships -- Africa, Southwestern Medinski, Tanya Soil chemical and physical properties and their influence on the plant species richness of arid South-West Africa |
| title | Soil chemical and physical properties and their influence on the plant species richness of arid South-West Africa |
| title_full | Soil chemical and physical properties and their influence on the plant species richness of arid South-West Africa |
| title_fullStr | Soil chemical and physical properties and their influence on the plant species richness of arid South-West Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Soil chemical and physical properties and their influence on the plant species richness of arid South-West Africa |
| title_short | Soil chemical and physical properties and their influence on the plant species richness of arid South-West Africa |
| title_sort | soil chemical and physical properties and their influence on the plant species richness of arid south west africa |
| topic | Dissertations -- Conservation ecology and entomology Theses -- Conservation ecology and entomology Soils -- Africa, Southwestern Plant species diversity -- Africa, Southwestern Plant-soil relationships -- Africa, Southwestern |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/2157 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT medinskitanya soilchemicalandphysicalpropertiesandtheirinfluenceontheplantspeciesrichnessofaridsouthwestafrica |