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Is the lack of leguminous savanna trees in grasslands of South Africa related to nutritional constraints?

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Abstract

As with many grasslands globally, the Highveld grasslands of South Africa are tree-less, despite having a climate that can support tree growth. Models predict that fire maintains these grasslands. The question arises as to why fire-tolerant savanna trees do not survive in these ecosystems? Savanna tree survival in mesic areas is restricted by demographic bottlenecks, specifically limitations to sapling-escape from fire. It was hypothesised that ancient highly leached soils from grassland areas would prevent saplings from growing fast enough to escape the fire-trap. Growth rates of savanna tree seedlings (Acacia karroo Hayne and Acacia sieberiana Burtt Davy) were measured in a common garden experiment using soils from ten sites collected along a savanna-grassland continuum. Soils from grassland sites were relatively nutrient-poor compared to those from savannas with lower pH, and associated cations. A. sieberiana growth rates responded to pH and these nutrients, whereas A. karroo growth was less strongly linked to specific nutrients. Even so, both species accumulated more biomass when grown in soils from savanna sites compared to grassland sites. An exception was a low elevation low nutrient savanna site that resulted in poor growth, yet sustains high tree biomass in situ. Differences between growth in grassland and savanna soils were small. They may contribute to, but are unlikely to explain, the treeless nature of these grasslands.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Hans Lambers for suggesting this experiment, the staff of the Zululand Tree Project for field assistance, numerous farmers and landowners for use of their properties, Ian Newton (Department of Archaeometry, University of Cape Town) for mass spectrometer analysis, and William Stock (Edith Cowan University, Perth) for reviewing an earlier draft of the manuscript. Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife is thanked for hosting the project in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve. We are grateful for funding from the Mellon Foundation and National Research Foundation of South Africa.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa

    Julia L. Wakeling, Michael D. Cramer & William J. Bond

Authors
  1. Julia L. Wakeling
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  2. Michael D. Cramer
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  3. William J. Bond
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Correspondence to Julia L. Wakeling.

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Responsible Editor: Jeffrey Walck.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

ESM 1

Description of topsoil texture, subsoil and soil form, as well as elevation, mean annual precipitation and mean annual temperature at each site (DOC 33 kb)

ESM 2

Table of results of nutrient analyses for soils, collected from a range of elevations, used in the soil nutrient pot experiment (DOC 68 kb)

ESM 3

Table of results of a principal component analysis (PCA) of soil variables showing factor loadings on the first three components as well as Eigenvalues and the percentage variance explained by these components. Site principal component scores were correlated with elevation and the Pearson correlation coefficients with significance levels are shown for each principal component (DOC 55 kb)

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Wakeling, J.L., Cramer, M.D. & Bond, W.J. Is the lack of leguminous savanna trees in grasslands of South Africa related to nutritional constraints?. Plant Soil 336, 173–182 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0457-4

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