![]() South African Journal of Botany 52: 60-66įorman RTT andGodron M (1981) Patches and structural components for a landscape ecology. Pedobiologia 39: 561-576Įverard DA (1986) The effects of fire on the Podocarpus latifolius forests of the Royal Natal National Park, Natal Drakensberg. Chapman & Hall, Londonĭigweed SC,Currie CR,Cárcamo HA andSpence JR (1995) Digging out the 'digging-in effect' of pitfall traps: influences of depletion and disturbance on catches of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae). In: Watt AD,Stork NE andHunter MD (eds) Forests and Insects, pp. Chapman & Hall, Londonĭidham RK (1997) An overview of invertebrate responses to forest fragmentation. In: Watt AD,Stork NE andHunter MD (eds) Forests and Insects, pp 321-340. Bowne Press Limited, UKĭennis P (1997) Impact of forest and woodland structure on insect abundance and diversity. Chapman & Hall, LondonĬlarke KR andWarwick RM (1994) Change in Marine Communities: An Approach to Statistical Analysis and Interpretation. ![]() In: Furley PA,Proctor J andRatter JA (eds) Nature and Dynamics of Forest-savanna Boundaries, pp 513-518. Biological Conservation 66: 139-143Ĭavalcanti RB (1992) The importance of forest edges in the ecology of open country cerrado birds. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 48: 295-305īurkey TV (1993) Edge effects in seed and egg predation at two neotropical rainforest sites. Ecology 69: 544-547īedford SE andUsher MB (1994) Distribution of arthropod species across the margins of farm woodlands. Chapman & Hall, LondonĪndrén H andAngelstam P (1988) Elevated predation rates as an edge effect in habitat islands: experimental evidence. In: Hansson L,Fahrig L andMerriam G (eds) Mosaic Landscapes and Ecological Processes, pp 225-255. Conservation Ecology 1: 1-14Īndrén H (1995) Effects of landscape composition on predation rates at habitat edges. Botanical Research Institute, South AfricaĪndersen AN (1997) Using ants as bioindicators: multiscale issues in ant community ecology. Memoirs of the Botanical Survey of South Africa no. Protecting grasslands around forest patches not only conserves the rich ant diversity, but also conserves the biota in the forests and at the edges, and would therefore be more meaningful in terms of the overall conservation of Afromontane biodiversity.Īcocks JPH (1988) Veld types of South Africa. The grassland habitat is often perceived as less valuable than forest and, as a consequence, is subject to many anthropogenic disturbances such as fragmentation, cattle grazing and afforestation. We argue that a conservation strategy for the Afromontane forest patches must also incorporate the surrounding grassland. ![]() More interestingly, the abundance and species richness patterns across the ecotone did not change with the passing of the seasons. ![]() Ants and carabids were both more abundant and species rich in spring and summer than in autumn and winter. Overall, carabids were more abundant and species rich in forests while for ants it was in the grasslands. Among these was a very distinct edge species, the amphipod Talistroides africana. Five of the fifty-two sampled species however, did increase significantly in abundance at the ecotone. We investigated epigaeic amphipod, carabid and ant distribution patterns across Afromontane forest/grassland ecotones and found little evidence to support the biological edge effect. The edges, or ecotones between forests and grasslands are usually sharp (typically just over a few metres) and are mainly maintained by both natural and, more recently, anthropogenic fires. The Afromontane region of South Africa is characterised by numerous small, remnant forests in a grassland matrix. ![]()
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