Effects of Soil Properties on the Distribution of Woody Plants in Communally Managed Rangelands in Ngaka Modiri Molema District, North-West Province, South Africa
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Area
2.2. Experimental Design
2.2.1. Vegetation Sampling
2.2.2. Soil Sampling
2.3. Data Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Woody Species Composition and Abundance
3.2. Vegetation Structure
3.2.1. Density and Frequency of Woody Plant Species among the Study Sites (n = 30)
3.2.2. The Combined Density of all Woody Plant Species of Different Height Class Distribution at Various Sites (n = 30)
3.3. Variation in Soil Properties between the Six Selected Communally Managed Rangelands
3.4. Effect of Soil Properties on Tree Species Distribution
4. Discussion
4.1. Woody Species Composition and Abundance
4.2. Vegetation Structure
4.2.1. The Density and Frequency of Woody Plant Species among the Study Sites
4.2.2. Woody Plant Height Class Distribution
4.3. Variation in Soil Properties between the Six Selected Communally Managed Rangelands
4.4. Effect of Soil Properties on Tree Species Distribution
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Woody Species | Families | Density of Woody Species (TE ha−1) in Each Village | Total Density (TE ha−1) | Relative Frequency (%) | Relative Abundance (%) | Mean Density (TE ha−1) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Disaneng | Logageng | Matloding | Selosesha | Setlhabaneng | Tshidilamolomo | ||||||
Senegalia mellifera | Fabaceae | 1886 | 2024 | 93 | 6967 | 10,970 | 17.39 | 35.40 | 1828.33 | ||
Prosopis velutina | Fabaceae | 8460 | 8460 | 5.21 | 29.16 | 1410 | |||||
Terminalia sericea | Combretaceae | 2131 | 2131 | 4.34 | 7.34 | 355.17 | |||||
Vachellia hebeclada | Fabaceae | 76 | 50 | 235 | 1027 | 133 | 1521 | 15.65 | 5.24 | 253.50 | |
Dichrostachys cinerea | Fabaceae | 1109 | 117 | 1226 | 7.82 | 4.22 | 204.33 | ||||
Ziziphus mucronata | Rhamnaceae | 54 | 632 | 50 | 431 | 1167 | 9.56 | 4.02 | 194.50 | ||
Vachellia tortilis | Fabaceae | 932 | 932 | 5.21 | 3.21 | 155.33 | |||||
Grewia flava | Malvaceae | 178 | 142 | 132 | 248 | 150 | 850 | 6.95 | 2.93 | 141.67 | |
Tarchonanthus camphoratus | Asteraceae | 764 | 764 | 4.34 | 2.63 | 127.33 | |||||
Vachellia karroo | Fabaceae | 100 | 467 | 567 | 10.43 | 1.95 | 94.50 | ||||
Buddleja saligna | Scrophulariaceae | 520 | 520 | 2.60 | 1.79 | 86.67 | |||||
Grewia occidentalis | Malvaceae | 269 | 269 | 1.73 | 0.92 | 44.83 | |||||
Ehretia rigida | Boraginaceae | 91 | 51 | 142 | 3.47 | 0.48 | 23.67 | ||||
Searsia lancea | Anacardiaceae | 67 | 67 | 0.86 | 0.23 | 11.17 | |||||
Vachellia erioloba | Fabaceae | 17 | 33 | 50 | 2.60 | 0.17 | 8.33 | ||||
Boscia albitrunca | Capparaceae | 37 | 37 | 0.86 | 0.12 | 6.17 | |||||
Searsia dentata | Anacardiaceae | 33 | 33 | 0.86 | 0.11 | 5.50 | |||||
Total density (TE ha−1) | 3527 | 3663 | 3601 | 7000 | 3105 | 8810 | 29,706 | 4951 |
Height Class (m) | Villages | p-Value | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Disaneng | Logageng | Matloding | Selosesha | Setlhabaneng | Tshidilamolomo | ||
<1 | 2366 ± 53.08 b | 1662 ± 5.29 c | 1000 ± 31.20 d | 4228 ± 14.88 a | 2639 ± 4.20 b | 494 ± 18.52 e | <0.05 |
1–<2 | 385 ± 4.08 e | 1198 ± 6.55 c | 943 ± 4.08 d | 2523 ± 16.50 b | 332 ± 1.63 e | 4151 ± 5.90 a | <0.05 |
2–<3 | 525 ± 20.41 c | 525 ± 20.41 c | 865 ± 8.16 b | 111 ± 8.98 d | 56 ± 4.89 e | 3204 ± 34.64 a | <0.05 |
3–<4 | 58 ± 0.81 c | 149 ± 2.06 b | 509 ± 7.34 a | 67 ± 5.71 c | 43 ± 2.44 c | 468 ± 5.37 a | <0.05 |
4–<5 | 147 ± 5.71 b | 129 ± 0.81 b | 185 ± 4.08 a | 20 ± 4.08 c | 36 ± 3.26 c | <0.05 | |
≥5 | 52 ± 1.63 |
Soil Properties | Villages | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Disaneng | Setlhabaneng | Selosesha | Tshidilamolomo | Matloding | Logageng | |
Sand (%) | 86.2 b | 59.2 d | 80.94 c | 90.16 a | 89.8 a | 85.1 b |
Silt (%) | 5.8 c | 20.8 a | 7.06 b | 3.84 d | 2.2 c | 4.9 c |
Clay (%) | 8.0 bcd | 20.0 a | 12.0 b | 6.0 d | 8.0 bcd | 10.0 bc |
pH | 5.96 c | 6.74 b | 6.62 b | 8.07 a | 5.10 c | 6.43 b |
EC (µS cm−1) | 7.00 e | 14.00 c | 17.50 b | 72.50 a | 10.00 d | 7.50 de |
Ca (mg kg−1) | 183.00 e | 1651.50 b | 974.50 c | 2370.50 a | 52.50 f | 349.50 d |
Mg (mg kg−1) | 55.00 e | 552.00 b | 477.50 a | 537.00 c | 31.50 f | 151.50 d |
Na (mg kg−1) | 34.50 b | 38.50 a | 17.00 d | 19.50 d | 30.00 c | 36.50 ab |
K (mg kg−1) | 60.50 e | 123.50 a | 109.00 b | 101.00 c | 35.50 f | 86.50 d |
CEC (cmolc kg−1) | 3.88 cd | 15.98 a | 11.69 b | 3.35 d | 4.38 cd | 5.08 c |
P (mg kg−1) | 4.50 c | 3.81 c | 1.49 d | 70.80 a | 8.00 b | 9.74 b |
OM (%) | 0.25 d | 0.77 a | 0.33 c | 0.31 c | 0.14 e | 0.49 b |
TN (%) | 0.03 bc | 0.07 a | 0.03 bc | 0.04 b | 0.01 c | 0.05 ab |
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Tiawoun, M.A.P.; Malan, P.W.; Comole, A.A. Effects of Soil Properties on the Distribution of Woody Plants in Communally Managed Rangelands in Ngaka Modiri Molema District, North-West Province, South Africa. Ecologies 2022, 3, 361-375. https://doi.org/10.3390/ecologies3030027
Tiawoun MAP, Malan PW, Comole AA. Effects of Soil Properties on the Distribution of Woody Plants in Communally Managed Rangelands in Ngaka Modiri Molema District, North-West Province, South Africa. Ecologies. 2022; 3(3):361-375. https://doi.org/10.3390/ecologies3030027
Chicago/Turabian StyleTiawoun, Makuété A. P., Pieter W. Malan, and Alvino A. Comole. 2022. "Effects of Soil Properties on the Distribution of Woody Plants in Communally Managed Rangelands in Ngaka Modiri Molema District, North-West Province, South Africa" Ecologies 3, no. 3: 361-375. https://doi.org/10.3390/ecologies3030027