Successfully managing invasive plants in natural systems is extremely difficult. Recently however, progress has been made with an approach focused on changing ecosystem processes through the disturbance regime. We performed a large-scale (3 ha) full-factorial field experiment in densely invaded woodland in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, a savanna reserve in South Africa, to study the effect of fire on the control of the pan-tropical invasive exotic shrub Chromolaena odorata in combination with the conventional method, i.e. manual clearing and herbicide application. We show how fire interacted with the conventional clearing of C. odorata and induced an intense canopy fire that caused a shift from woodland to grassland. After 2.5 years of monitoring, grasses were still dominant and re-invasion minimal. It is important to note that fire without prior clearing did not have the same effect and was not successful in reducing densities of C. odorata. An integrated control practice targeting the species with mechanical and chemical methods, while simultaneously targeting its habitat through fire, effectively controlled dense C. odorata thickets during the course of the experiment. However, this approach transformed regular surface fires into high-intensity canopy fires that are rare in savannas. We discuss how this altered fire regime may threaten native habitats, including fire-sensitive forest patches and riverine woodlands within the savanna mozaic. This is an important dilemma for managers that should not be overlooked and asks for long-term data on the impact of control programs on the native vegetation.
", "keywords": ["ALIEN PLANTS", "0106 biological sciences", "570", "BURN AGRICULTURE", "Ecology", "Conservation", "15. Life on land", "Fire", "ECOLOGY", "01 natural sciences", "Integrative management", "Tree-grass dynamics", "Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park", "BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS", "EUPATORIUM-ODORATUM", "NATURE RESERVES", "ECOSYSTEMS", "Biological invasions", "NATIONAL-PARK", "ENVIRONMENTS FOLLOWING SLASH", "Ecology", " Evolution", " Behavior and Systematics", "TROPICAL SAVANNAS"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-011-0102-z"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Biological%20Invasions", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1007/s10530-011-0102-z", "name": "item", "description": "10.1007/s10530-011-0102-z", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1007/s10530-011-0102-z"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2011-09-16T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1007/s11104-011-0860-5", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-09-21T16:14:52Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2011-07-29", "title": "Leaf Litter Manipulations Alter Soil Physicochemical Properties And Tree Growth In A Neotropical Savanna", "description": "This study was aimed to assess the role that leaf litter play in nutrient cycling, nutrient soil availability and ecosystem processes in an oligotrophic tropical savanna. A four\u00a0year experiment was performed in a Neotropical savanna from the Brazilian plateau (cerrado), in which litter levels were modified, and the resulting changes in biophysical and chemical soil properties were studied. Changes in organic matter decomposition, soil respiration and stem growth of the six most common tree species were also monitored. Compared to litter removal plots, double litter plots had lower maximum soil temperature and higher soil water content, and litter decomposition rates in one of three species studied, consistent with higher soil respiration rates observed in this treatment. With the exception of Ca, there were no significant differences in nutrients between the removal, natural and double litter plots, even though most nutrients tended to increase in the double litter plots by the end of the experimental period, while in the control plots nutrient levels remained relatively constant. Of the six tree species used for growth analysis, only one, Sclerolobium paniculatum, a fast growing species with shallow roots, had a significant increase in stem growth due to litter addition. Preliminary results over four\u00a0years indicate that litter removal and addition resulted in some significant changes and tendencies that indicate that litter is effectively altering ecosystem processes. The information obtained also suggest that nutrient cycling in plots with natural litter levels (control plots) was in a closed loop; most nutrients released by litter decomposition and mineralization were absorbed and reutilized immediately by the plants, thus minimizing nutrient leakage outside the system.", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "TREE GROWTH", "https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6", "NUTRIENT CYCLING", "SOIL FERTILITY", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1", "01 natural sciences", "LITTER DECOMPOSITION RATES", "SOIL RESPIRATION", "TROPICAL SAVANNAS"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-0860-5"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Plant%20and%20Soil", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1007/s11104-011-0860-5", "name": "item", "description": "10.1007/s11104-011-0860-5", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1007/s11104-011-0860-5"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2011-07-30T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1023/a:1006044630728", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-09-21T16:16:35Z", "type": "Journal Article", "title": "Cutting And Resprouting Of Detarium Microcarpum And Herbaceous Forage Availability In A Semiarid Environment In Burkina Faso", "description": "The tree-shrub savanna \u2018Foret Classee de Nazinon\u2019 (Burkina Faso) is submitted to a management of grazing and rotational cutting of Detarium microcarpum. This species resprouts after cutting. In order to investigate whether this silvopastoral land use system is sustainable, aboveground herbaceous biomass was measured on subplots under uncut trees (\u2018uncut\u2019), next to the stubs of cut trees (\u2018cut\u2019) and on subplots not influenced by the (former) crowns of trees (\u2018open grassland\u2019) in four lots. These lots were cut one, three, six and seven years before the study. Vegetation composition of the lots and the composition of the diet of cattle were also determined. Comparisons were made between treatments and lots. Herbaceous biomass was lower in the open grassland subplots than in uncut or cut subplots. We speculate that soil enrichment and more efficient precipitation input in (former) tree crown zones could have resulted in this pattern. Cutting and subsequent resprouting of trees did not lead to significant differences in herbaceous biomass between cut and uncut subplots. The most simple explanation for this is that the trees could extend their roots beyond the location of their neighbouring trees. Biomass and coverage of perennial grasses, mainly Andropogon ascinodis and Andropogon gayanus, did not change in lots cut one, three or six years before the study, but decreased dramatically in lots that were cut seven years before the study. When foraging, cattle spent more than 90% of their time feeding on these species. This indicates that, as a consequence of tree cutting, forage availability may be reduced to the point where local herdsmen are forced to take their cattle to another region.", "keywords": ["Vegetation dynamics", "Grazing", "Milieukunde", "tropical savanna", "vegetation dynamics", "Silvopastoralism", "grazing", "Bush encroachment", "silvopastoralism", "bush encroachment", "Tropical savanna"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1006044630728"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Agroforestry%20Systems", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1023/a:1006044630728", "name": "item", "description": "10.1023/a:1006044630728", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1023/a:1006044630728"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "1998-01-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5061/dryad.ns92q", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "unspecified", "updated": "2026-09-21T16:19:50Z", "type": "Dataset", "title": "Data from: Soil carbon response to woody plant encroachment: Importance of spatial heterogeneity and deep soil storage", "description": "unspecified1. Recent global trends of increasing woody plant abundance in grass-dominated ecosystems may substantially enhance soil organic carbon (SOC) storage and could represent a strong carbon (C) sink in the terrestrial environment. However, few studies have quantitatively addressed the influence of spatial heterogeneity of vegetation and soil properties on SOC storage at the landscape scale. In addition, most studies assessing SOC response to woody encroachment consider only surface soils, and have not explicitly assessed the extent to which deeper portions of the soil profile may be sequestering C. 2. We quantified the direction, magnitude, and pattern of spatial heterogeneity of SOC in the upper 1.2 m of the profile following woody encroachment via spatially-specific intensive soil sampling across a landscape in a subtropical savanna in the Rio Grande Plains, USA, that has undergone woody proliferation during the past century. 3. Increased SOC accumulation following woody encroachment was observed to considerable depth, albeit at reduced magnitudes in deeper portions of the profile. Overall, woody clusters and groves accumulated 12.87 and 18.67 Mg C ha-1 more SOC compared to grasslands to a depth of 1.2 m. 4. Woody encroachment significantly altered the pattern of spatial heterogeneity of SOC to a depth of 5 cm, with marginal effect at 5-15 cm, and no significant impact on soils below 15 cm. Fine root density explained greater variability of SOC in the upper 15 cm, while a combination of fine root density and soil clay content accounted for more of the variation in SOC in soils below 15 cm across this landscape. 5. Synthesis: Substantial SOC sequestration can occur in deeper portions of the soil profile following woody encroachment. Furthermore, vegetation patterns and soil properties influenced the spatial heterogeneity and uncertainty of SOC in this landscape, highlighting the need for spatially specific sampling that can characterize this variability and enable scaling and modeling. Given the geographic extent of woody encroachment on a global scale, this undocumented deep soil C sequestration suggests this vegetation change may play a more significant role in regional and global C sequestration than previously thought.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "deep soil carbon", "13. Climate action", "\u03b413C value", "landscape scale", "woody plant encroachment", "15. Life on land", "pattern of spatial heterogeneity", "SOC storage", "subtropical savanna"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Zhou, Yong, Boutton, Thomas W., Wu, X. Ben,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.ns92q"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5061/dryad.ns92q", "name": "item", "description": "10.5061/dryad.ns92q", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5061/dryad.ns92q"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2017-03-10T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5281/zenodo.10951090", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-09-21T16:20:18Z", "type": "Dataset", "title": "Fire promotes functional plant diversity and modifies soil carbon dynamics in tropical savanna", "description": "Open AccessDataset associated with the manuscript 'Fire promotes functional plant diversity and modifies soil carbon dynamics in tropical savanna' (Teixeira et al.). It includes 6 different datasets and for all datasets, we provided one metadata.