ecological thresholds in the savanna landscape developing a protocol for monitoring the change in composition and utilisation of large trees生态阈值在稀树草原景观发展中一个协议监测组成的变化和大树的利用率.pdfVIP

Ecological Thresholds in the Savanna Landscape: Developing a Protocol for Monitoring the Change in Composition and Utilisation of Large Trees 1 1 1 2 1 Dave J. Druce , Graeme Shannon *, Bruce R. Page , Rina Grant , Rob Slotow 1 Amarula Elephant Research Programme, Biological and Conservation Sciences, Westville Campus, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa, 2 Scientific Services, Kruger National Park, Skukuza, South Africa Abstract Background: Acquiring greater understanding of the factors causing changes in vegetation structure - particularly with the potential to cause regime shifts - is important in adaptively managed conservation areas. Large trees ($5 m in height) play an important ecosystem function, and are associated with a stable ecological state in the African savanna. There is concern that large tree densities are declining in a number of protected areas, including the Kruger National Park, South Africa. In this paper the results of a field study designed to monitor change in a savanna system are presented and discussed. Methodology/Principal Findings: Developing the first phase of a monitoring protocol to measure the change in tree species composition, density and size distribution, whilst also identifying factors driving change. A central issue is the discrete spatial distribution of large trees in the landscape, making point sampling approaches relatively ineffective. Accordingly, fourteen 10 m wide transects were aligned perpendicular to large rivers (3.0–6.6 km in length) and eight transects were located at fixed-point photographic locations (1.0–1.6 km in length). Using accumulation curves, we established that the majority of tree species were