ISSN:
1572-9761
Keywords:
South Africa
;
mixed evergreen forests
;
succession
;
simulation model
;
landscape ecology
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
Notes:
Abstract A succession model for mixed evergreen forests of the southern Cape, South Africa, called OUTENIQUA, was developed based on one for subtropical rain forest in New South Wales, Australia. The model simulates the regeneration, growth and mortality on a 0.04 ha plot using an individual-tree based modeling approach to forest succession. The OUTENIQUA model was tested on its ability to simulate species dynamics of the forest stand used for its development, as well as on independent data from a neighboring stand and not used for the model derivation. The model is used as a research tool to summarize published and unpublished knowledge on the southern Cape forests and to highlight aspects where knowledge is insufficient. The development of the model represents a test of an individual-tree gap model as a simulation tool for use in management and directing research in subtropical and tropical forests.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00125095
