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  • Soils  (2)
  • Springer  (2)
  • Copernicus
  • American Meteorological Society (AMS)
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  • Springer  (2)
  • Copernicus
  • American Meteorological Society (AMS)
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  • 1
    ISSN: 1573-5052
    Keywords: Mesembryanthemaceae ; Nutrients ; Organic matter ; Soils
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Abstract Zones of nutrient enrichment beneath shrubs, the so called 'fertile islands', are the result of a range of interacting physical and biotic concentrating mechanisms. These concentrating mechanisms lead to specific spatial patterns of soil properties across a landscape and it has been suggested that disruption of the normal patterns into more aggregated 'fertile islands' might be a useful index of desertification in semi-arid regions. The objective of this paper was to determine whether 'fertile islands' are as characteristic a feature of succulent deserts as they are of shrub dominated deserts. Results indicate that, even in a community dominated by succulent species fertile islands develop under extremely arid conditions and that the degree of development is dependent on plant dynamics. Long-lived species showed greater concentration effects. However, the patterns of nutrient accretion in islands are very different to shrub invaded grasslands in North America. In particular nitrogen accretion dominated the 'fertile islands' in Namaqualand, and we suggest that these islands are more ephemeral than carbon and phosphorus dominated islands reported for other systems. These more dynamic islands are a consequence of rapid community dynamics since the Namaqualand region is characterised by many short-lived perennials which turnover generations very rapidly in response to environmental conditions. Using the development of 'fertile islands' to assess desertification as applied elsewhere might be inappropriate in Namaqualand because of the different patterns of community dynamics underlying the formation and characteristics of these islands.
    Type of Medium: Electronic Resource
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  • 2
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Springer
    Plant ecology 130 (1997), S. 143-153 
    ISSN: 1573-5052
    Keywords: Community boundaries ; Fynbos ; Nitrogen ; Phosphorus ; Soils
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Biology
    Notes: Abstract The relationship between changes in soil nutrient characteristics and fynbos community boundaries was investigated near Cape Agulhas, South Africa. Soil characteristics relating to total nutrient content (pH, total N and total P, organic carbon, and various cations) were assessed at sites along three transects crossing the boundaries between five plant communities. Dynamics of available N and P in soils of three communities were studied in the field over one year, using ion-exchange resins. There was a wide range in the degree of change in soil nutrient content across different community boundaries. The characteristics that varied most were pH, total N, Ca and total P. Differences in available nutrients among soils indicated that the communities in this landscape were associated with a mosaic of N and P availability. It is proposed that spatial variation in soil nutrient availability rather than total soil nutrient contents may be important in explaining landscape-level species distributions and community composition in nutrient-poor mediterranean-climate ecosystems.
    Type of Medium: Electronic Resource
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