Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Effects of widely spaced trees and livestock grazing on understory environments in tropical savannas

Effects of widely spaced trees and livestock grazing on understory environments in tropical savannas The effects of widely spaced trees ofAcacia tortilis andAdansonia digitata on their understory environments were investigated in four savannas located along a gradient of increasing livestock utilization in Tsavo National Park (West), Kenya. Plant species composition and biomass and the physical and chemical properties of soils that occur below tree crowns were compared to open grasslands. The tree-crown zones at lightly and moderately grazed sites had a unique understory flora and higher plant biomass, lower temperatures and bulk densities, and higher levels of P, K, Ca and mineralizable N than their associated opengrassland zones. In the heavily grazed savanna, few differences between tree-crown and grassland zones were found. The beneficial effects of savanna trees on their understory environments appear to diminish with increasing livestock utilization. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Agroforestry Systems Springer Journals

Effects of widely spaced trees and livestock grazing on understory environments in tropical savannas

Agroforestry Systems , Volume 24 (1) – Nov 12, 2004

Loading next page...
 
/lp/springer-journals/effects-of-widely-spaced-trees-and-livestock-grazing-on-understory-JMYrMTroVs

References (43)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright
Subject
Life Sciences; Forestry; Agriculture
ISSN
0167-4366
eISSN
1572-9680
DOI
10.1007/BF00705265
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The effects of widely spaced trees ofAcacia tortilis andAdansonia digitata on their understory environments were investigated in four savannas located along a gradient of increasing livestock utilization in Tsavo National Park (West), Kenya. Plant species composition and biomass and the physical and chemical properties of soils that occur below tree crowns were compared to open grasslands. The tree-crown zones at lightly and moderately grazed sites had a unique understory flora and higher plant biomass, lower temperatures and bulk densities, and higher levels of P, K, Ca and mineralizable N than their associated opengrassland zones. In the heavily grazed savanna, few differences between tree-crown and grassland zones were found. The beneficial effects of savanna trees on their understory environments appear to diminish with increasing livestock utilization.

Journal

Agroforestry SystemsSpringer Journals

Published: Nov 12, 2004

There are no references for this article.