Effects of Environmental Factors on Plant Productivity in the Mountain Grassland of the Mountain Zebra National Park, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Area
2.2. Field Data Collection
2.3. Climate and Environmental Data
2.4. Statistical Analyses
3. Results
4. Discussion
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Class | Variables | Source | Scale/Resolution |
---|---|---|---|
Topography | Digital elevation model (DEM) | SRTM | 30 m |
Slope | Derived from DEM | 30 m | |
Aspect | Derived from DEM | ||
Soil chemical properties | Nitrogen (cg/kg) | Soil grids | 250 m |
pH | Soil grids | 250 m | |
Organic carbon (g/kg) | Soil grids | 250 m | |
Cation exchange capacity (mmol(c)/kg) | Soil grids | 250 m | |
Soil texture and physical properties | Silt (g/kg) | Soil grids | 250 m |
Coarse fragments (cm3/dm3) | Soil grids | 250 m | |
Organic content (g/kg) | Soil grids | 250 m | |
Bulk density (cg/cm3) | Soil grids | 250 m | |
Sand (g/kg) | Soil grids | 250 m | |
Clay (g/kg) | Soil grids | 250 m |
Total | Genera | Species | Plot | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Count | Biomass | 2594 | Average Biomass | 43 | 68 | 52 |
Minimum | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.90 | ||
25% Quantile | 4.00 | 5.87 | 6.08 | 5.85 | ||
Median | 7.00 | 7.28 | 7.35 | 7.36 | ||
75% Quantile | 10.00 | 8.27 | 8.78 | 8.99 | ||
Maximum | 36.00 | 11.52 | 21.00 | 13.54 | ||
Mean | 7.45 | 7.29 | 7.70 | 7.45 | ||
Std. Dev. | 4.55 | 2.36 | 3.03 | 2.35 | ||
p-value | 0.0000 | 0.40 | 0.50 | 0.96 |
Variable | n | Coeff. | p-Value * | 95% Conf. Int. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lower | Upper | |||||
Shannon index | 52 | −0.3623 | 0.5002 | −1.4339 | 0.7092 | |
Aspect | ||||||
East | 9 | Ref | Ref | Ref | Ref | |
North | 7 | 1.5760 | 0.5002 | −3.0961 | 6.2480 | |
North-east | 11 | 0.9920 | 0.6439 | −3.3036 | 5.2876 | |
North-west | 6 | 1.5177 | 0.5480 | −3.5340 | 6.5694 | |
South | 7 | 0.4668 | 0.9592 | −17.8360 | 18.7697 | |
South-east | 2 | 0.0631 | 0.9739 | −3.8076 | 3.9338 | |
South-west | 3 | 0.5944 | 0.9592 | −22.7120 | 23.9009 | |
West | 7 | 1.1454 | 0.6439 | −3.8144 | 6.1052 | |
Bulk density | 52 | 0.0388 | 0.9622 | −1.5957 | 1.6732 | |
Cation exchange capacity | 52 | −0.0480 | 0.6103 | −0.2361 | 0.1401 | |
Clay content | 52 | −0.0023 | 0.9622 | −0.0984 | 0.0938 | |
Coarse fragments | 52 | −0.0044 | 0.9592 | −0.1764 | 0.1676 | |
Nitrogen | 52 | −0.0042 | 0.9592 | −0.1682 | 0.1598 | |
Annual mean rainfall | 52 | 0.0626 | 0.0585 | −0.0023 | 0.1275 | |
Sand | 52 | 0.0077 | 0.9592 | −0.2952 | 0.3107 | |
Silt | 52 | 0.0012 | 0.9622 | −0.0499 | 0.0524 | |
Slope | 52 | 0.1392 | 0.4871 | −0.2601 | 0.5385 | |
Soil organic carbon | 52 | 0.1935 | 0.1600 | −0.0790 | 0.4660 | |
Annual mean temperature | 52 | −0.0275 | 0.9622 | −1.1845 | 1.1296 | |
Vegetation unit | ||||||
1 | 12 | Ref | Ref | Ref | Ref | |
2–3 | 8 | 3.1008 | 0.0333 | 0.2564 | 5.9452 | |
4–5 | 14 | −0.0715 | 0.9622 | −3.0879 | 2.9449 | |
7–8 | 11 | 0.9058 | 0.6103 | −2.6463 | 4.4580 | |
9–11 | 7 | 2.3487 | 0.0993 | −0.4610 | 5.1584 | |
Water pH | 52 | −0.0690 | 0.0385 | −0.1341 | −0.0038 |
Variable | DF | F-Value | p-Value * | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Aspect | 7 | 0.5672 | 0.9622 | 0.4365 |
Vegetation unit | 4 | 4.5107 | 0.0385 | |
Water pH | 1 | 8.2016 | 0.0416 |
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Munyai, N.; Ramoelo, A.; Adelabu, S.; Bezuidehout, H.; Sadiq, H. Effects of Environmental Factors on Plant Productivity in the Mountain Grassland of the Mountain Zebra National Park, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Ecologies 2023, 4, 749-761. https://doi.org/10.3390/ecologies4040049
Munyai N, Ramoelo A, Adelabu S, Bezuidehout H, Sadiq H. Effects of Environmental Factors on Plant Productivity in the Mountain Grassland of the Mountain Zebra National Park, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Ecologies. 2023; 4(4):749-761. https://doi.org/10.3390/ecologies4040049
Chicago/Turabian StyleMunyai, Nthabeliseni, Abel Ramoelo, Samuel Adelabu, Hugo Bezuidehout, and Hassan Sadiq. 2023. "Effects of Environmental Factors on Plant Productivity in the Mountain Grassland of the Mountain Zebra National Park, Eastern Cape, South Africa" Ecologies 4, no. 4: 749-761. https://doi.org/10.3390/ecologies4040049