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An Evaluation of Habitat Rehabilitation on Coastal Dune Forests in Northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (1996)

Aarde, R. J. ; Ferreira, S. M. ; Kritzinger, J. J. ; [et al.]

Oxford, UK : Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Restoration ecology 4 (1996), S. 0

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ISSN: 1526-100X

Source: Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005

Topics: Biology

Notes: The rehabilitation program conducted by Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) of areas exposed to opencast surface mining of sand dunes north of Richards Bay (28°43'S, 32°12'E) on the coast of northern KwaZulu-Natal Province commenced 16 years before this study and has resulted in the development of a series of known-aged stands of vegetation. By assuming that these spatially separated stands develop along a similar pathway over time, instantaneous sampling should reveal successional or other changes usually associated with aging and should provide an opportunity to evaluate the success of rehabilitation. We compare relative densities of pioneer and secondary species, species richness, and a similarity index of the herbaceous layer, tree, beetle, millipede, bird, and small-mammal communities of rehabilitating areas of known age with those of 30-year-old unmined forests and unmined forests of unknown age adjacent to the rehabilitating area. Species richness for all but the mammalian taxa increased with increasing age of rehabilitating stands. For all taxa but the mammals and herbaceous layer, the unmined stands harbored more species than the mined rehabilitating stands. The relative densities of pioneer species of all the taxa decreased with an increase in the age of rehabilitating stands, whereas those of the secondary species increased with an increase in habitat age. Similarity between unmined stands and rehabilitating stands of different ages increased with increasing regeneration age of rehabilitating stands, suggesting that rehabilitating communities, in terms of species composition and relative densities, are developing towards the status of unmined communities. Rehabilitation based on RBM's management program of limited interference is occurring and may result in the reestablishment of a coastal dune forest ecosystem. But rehabilitation resulting from succession depends on the availability of species sources from which colonization can take place. In the Richards Bay mining operation the present mining path is laid out so that such refuges are present.

Type of Medium: Electronic Resource

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-100X.1996.tb00186.x

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Do feral house mice have an impact on invertebrate communities on sub-Antarctic Marion Island? (2004)

Van Aarde, R. J. ; Ferreira, S. M. ; Wassenaar, T. D.

Oxford, UK : Blackwell Science Pty

Austral ecology 29 (2004), S. 0

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ISSN: 1442-9993

Source: Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005

Topics: Biology

Notes: Abstract House mice (Mus domesticus L.) have been present on sub-Antarctic Marion Island since the early 1800s. Several authors have suggested that an increase in mice density as a result of a general warming trend in the sub-Antarctic climate from the 1960s has led to a decline in invertebrate biomass and abundance. These suggestions have been supported by the observation that the invertebrates of nearby mouse-free Prince Edward Island are apparently larger and more numerous than on Marion. Our experiment was designed to determine whether mice have a direct effect on invertebrate abundance, biomass and community structure, or an effect on the vegetation community and thus potentially an indirect effect on invertebrates. We constructed five wire-mesh mouse-free exclosures in one habitat type on Marion Island and recorded both the soil macro-invertebrate community and the vegetation inside and outside each of the exclosures before the start of the experiment in 1996 and twice thereafter (1998 and 2000). Mice had no significant effect on any of the eight prey groups' abundance or biomass, or on community structure (diversity and composition). Four of the prey groups changed significantly over time in either biomass or abundance, independent of the presence of mice. Our results, which may have been affected by generally low statistical power, suggest that factors other than mice had a larger impact on invertebrates than mice alone.

Type of Medium: Electronic Resource

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1442-9993.2004.01341.x

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