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The Effect of Soil Nutrient Availability on Community Structure in African Ecosystems

  • Conference paper
Ecology of Tropical Savannas

Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 42))

Abstract

To me, one of the most striking features of African ecology is the contrast in community structure between the savannas of East Africa, with their open, fine-leaved woodland, short- to medium-length grasslands, and high densities of generally small herbivores, and those of central Africa, with their closed canopy broad-leaved woodlands, medium to tall grasslands, and low densities of herbivores dominated by elephant and buffalo. This contrast is epitomized by the abrupt transition in north central Tanzania from the grasslands of the Serengeti region to the Brachystegia woodlands of western Tanzania. This paper has grown out of an attempt to account for this contrast.

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Authors
  1. R. H. V. Bell
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. CSIR, Cooperative Scientific Programmes, P.O. Box 395, 0001, Pretoria, South Africa

    Brian J. Huntley

  2. Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of the Witwatersrand, P.O. Box 1176, 2000, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Brian H. Walker

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© 1982 Springer-Verlag Berlin · Heidelberg

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Bell, R.H.V. (1982). The Effect of Soil Nutrient Availability on Community Structure in African Ecosystems. In: Huntley, B.J., Walker, B.H. (eds) Ecology of Tropical Savannas. Ecological Studies, vol 42. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68786-0_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68786-0_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-68788-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-68786-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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