Lessons from aloes in the Thicket Biome: reconstructing past elephant browsing to understand the present

Title: Lessons from aloes in the Thicket Biome: reconstructing past elephant browsing to understand the present
Creator: Parker, Daniel M
Creator: Bernard, Ric T F
Date Issued: 2008
Date: 2008
Type: Article
Identifier: vital:6894
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011654
Description: It is very difficult to quantify elephant-induced change to vegetation in the absence of adequate historical benchmarks. In this commentary, we explore the historical distribution of aloes in the Thicket Biome of South Africa. We contend that the large stands of aesthetically pleasing aloes in the Thicket Biome can be likened to the even-aged stands of tall trees in the riparian forests of Botswana, both being artefacts of the loss of large herbivores through disease and hunting in the past. Elephant browsing on aloes may therefore be the first step in the vegetation reverting to a situation similar to the one prior to excessive hunting in the region.
Format: 2 pages
Format: pdf
Language: English
Relation: Parker, D. M. and Bernard, R.T.F. (2008) Lessons from aloes in the Thicket Biome: reconstructing past elephant browsing to understand the present. South African Journal of Science, 104 (5). pp. 163-164.

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Bernard, Ric T F (Prof Emeritus)

Parker, Daniel M (Prof)

RU Department of Zoology and Entomology

SDG 15. Life On Land

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