Masters Degrees (Grassland and Rangeland Science)
Recent Submissions
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Effect of elevated temperatures on growth and defence of Vachellia 1 sieberiana seedlings grown with or without grass.
(2020)Warming is suggested to increase globally in the next few decades. Warming, soil nutrients, 2 water, CO2 and sunlight are the most important environmental factors for plant life. Elevated 3 temperatures can highly impact ... -
Local and global controllers of grassland ecosystem stability during global change.
(2019)Human impacts on grasslands dramatically affect grassland biodiversity which impacts the ability of ecosystems to sustainably provide ecosystem services. As the extents of these anthropogenic impacts increase (due to ... -
Selective impacts on the vigour and mortality of Aristida junciformis (subsp. junciformis)
(2019)The aim of grazing management is to maximise livestock production by maintaining high sward quality. Many southern African grasslands have become degraded allowing grass species unfavourable for livestock production, such ... -
Ecological effects of Festuca costata on the Drakensberg grasslands.
(2018)Fire and herbivory are important in determining the vegetation structure in savannas and grasslands. In addition, anthropogenic activities have significantly contributed to alterations in the relative abundance and ... -
Optimal spatial and temporal utilization of grassland resources for extensive livestock production.
(2018)South Africa naturally experiences variation in rainfall patterns with distinct seasonal distribution. The anticipated disruptive effects of climate change, in this region, on vegetation dynamics is likely to accentuate ... -
Seeing the wood for the trees : an evaluation of the Buffelsdraai Landfill Community Reforestation Project.
(2016)Cities, and African cities in particular, will need a suite of relevant tools and approaches to deal with the varied climate change-related threats that these cities will likely endure in the future. African cities will ... -
Burning wetlands : the influence of fire on wetland vegetation structure and composition.
(2013)Water is a very important component of the natural world and human survival but water sources (river systems and wetlands) are becoming increasingly degraded and less functional. In particular the increase of woody C3 ... -
Evaluation of improved Brachiaria grasses in low rainfall and aluminium toxicity prone areas of Rwanda.
(2010)Abstract available in the print copy. -
The effect of application of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and sulphur fertilisers to a perennial ryegrass sward on yield, quality and apparent intake by dairy cows.
(2010)Perennial ryegrass is an intensive, temperate pasture grass that responds well to applied fertiliser. The purpose of this project was to study the effects of fertiliser on the productivity and quality of perennial ryegrass ... -
Aspects of the ecology of grass seedlings used for revegetation of degraded land.
(2010)As restoration ecology has matured as a science there has been increased interest in the relationship between species diversity and landscape health. Degraded landscapes tend to be resource poor, which limits species ... -
The coastal grasslands of Maputaland, South Africa : effects of fire and grazing on vegetation structure, diversity, and composition.
(2007)A series of trials and investigations were implemented to address concerns surrounding the dynamics of the fire-climax wooded/edaphic grasslands within the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. ... -
Above- and belowground competition in Savanna systems.
(2008)The structure and composition of savanna vegetation is influenced by resource availability and disturbance. Grasses, a major component of savannas, influence this resource availability by competing directly with trees ... -
Cattle and veld interactions at the Armoedsvlakte Research Station.
(2011)A long-term grazing trial was started in 1977 at Armoedsvlakte Research Station, about 10km west of Vryburg, in Tarchonanthus veld of the Ghaap’s Plateau, which is a variation of the Kalahari Thornveld veld type. The ... -
Studies of the management of grazing resources on the Makatini Flats and Pongolo River Floodplain.
(1988)Subsequent to the impounding of the Pongolo river in the 1970's, development of irrigated agriculture on the Makatini flats has been reducing the area of vegetation available for grazing, and flooding patterns on the ... -
Nutrient cycling in grazing systems.
(2004)This research was conducted at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. The research encompasses five different studies to assess nutrient cycling in intensive and extensive grazing systems with ... -
Patch grazing in the humid grasslands of KwaZulu-Natal.
(1995)Patch grazing may be an important factor providing the focus from which wide-scale veld degradation has occurred in the humid grasslands of KwaZulu-Natal. A number of discrete studies were therefore initiated to ... -
Grasslands of Umtamvuna Nature Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal : a description and recommendations for monitoring.
(1995)The main aim of this study was to classify and map the threatened coastal grassland communities of the 3 257 ha Umtamvuna Nature Reserve (UNR) in KwaZulu-Natal (30°07'30" to 300 11'05"E; 30°55'00" to 31°04'30"S). Secondary ... -
A comparison of in-field techniques for estimating the feed intake of young boer goats on a Leucaena leucocephala/grass hay diet.
(1997)Two methods of estimating the intake of a 25% leucaena : 75% grass hay diet by young male Boer goats were assessed, (a) The purine derivative technique which uses the urinary excretion of purine derivatives (expressed ... -
Vegetation succession and soil properties following the removal of pine plantations on the eastern shores of Lake St Lucia, South Africa.
(1998)Pine plantations have been established on secondary grassland on the dune systems of the Eastern Shores of Lake St Lucia, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa for the past 40 years. These plantations have been progressively felled ... -
Vegetation change over fifty years in humid grasslands of KwaZulu-Natal (Acocks's sites)
(1997)Eighty three of Acocks's sites, originally surveyed about 50 years ago, were resurveyed in 1996 to determine the extent of grassland change in the humid grasslands of KwaZulu-Natal. Sites were relocated using 1:10 000 ...