{"type": "FeatureCollection", "features": [{"id": "10.1007/s10530-010-9921-6", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-09-20T16:14:33Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2010-12-10", "title": "Frequent Burning Promotes Invasions Of Alien Plants Into A Mesic African Savanna", "description": "Fire is both inevitable and necessary for maintaining the structure and functioning of mesic savannas. Without disturbances such as fire and herbivory, tree cover can increase at the expense of grass cover and over time dominate mesic savannas. Consequently, repeated burning is widely used to suppress tree recruitment and control bush encroachment. However, the effect of regular burning on invasion by alien plant species is little understood. Here, vegetation data from a long-term fire experiment, which began in 1953 in a mesic Zimbabwean savanna, were used to test whether the frequency of burning promoted alien plant invasion. The fire treatments consisted of late season fires, lit at 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-year intervals, and these regularly burnt plots were compared with unburnt plots. Results show that over half a century of frequent burning promoted the invasion by alien plants relative to areas where fire was excluded. More alien plant species became established in plots that had a higher frequency of burning. The proportion of alien species in the species assemblage was highest in the annually burnt plots followed by plots burnt biennially. Alien plant invasion was lowest in plots protected from fire but did not differ significantly between plots burnt triennially and quadrennially. Further, the abundance of five alien forbs increased significantly as the interval (in years) between fires became shorter. On average, the density of these alien forbs in annually burnt plots was at least ten times as high as the density of unburnt plots. Plant diversity was also altered by long-term burning. Total plant species richness was significantly lower in the unburnt plots compared to regularly burnt plots. These findings suggest that frequent burning of mesic savannas enhances invasion by alien plants, with short intervals between fires favouring alien forbs. Therefore, reducing the frequency of burning may be a key to minimising the risk of alien plant spread into mesic savannas, which is important because invasive plants pose a threat to native biodiversity and may alter savanna functioning.", "keywords": ["disturbance", "0106 biological sciences", "2. Zero hunger", "Ecology", "kruger-national-park", "south-africa", "biological invasions", "15. Life on land", "01 natural sciences", "METIS-302982", "vegetation", "ITC-ISI-JOURNAL-ARTICLE", "evolution", "ecology", "propagule pressure", "ecosystems", "fire-management", "Ecology", " Evolution", " Behavior and Systematics"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-010-9921-6"}, {"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/s10530-010-9921-6", "name": "item", "description": "10.1007/s10530-010-9921-6", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1007/s10530-010-9921-6"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2010-12-11T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1016/j.jaridenv.2011.02.004", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-09-20T16:15:47Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2011-03-07", "title": "Changes In Soil Nutrients, Vegetation Structure And Herbaceous Biomass In Response To Grazing In A Semi-Arid Savanna Of Ethiopia", "description": "The effect of grazing was studied on vegetation structure, herbaceous biomass, basal and bare ground covers, together with soil nutrient concentrations in two locations in an Ethiopian semi-arid savanna. The lightly grazed sites had significantly higher herbaceous diversity, total abundance, basal cover and aboveground biomass, and a lower percentage of bare ground compared with the heavy grazed sites. Grazing pressure had no effect on the density and number of woody species as well as on the proportion of encroaching woody species. The light grazing sites had higher organic carbon, phosphorus and exchangeable bases, and therefore a higher pH and higher electrical conductance, indicating an improved soil nutrient status compared with heavy grazing sites, mainly attributed to the higher basal cover and standing biomass at light grazed sites, and the export of nutrients through grazing and dung collection from the heavily grazed sites. There were significantly higher soil nutrients, species diversity, aboveground biomass and basal cover in the light grazing sites compared with heavy grazing sites. We concluded that changes in herbaceous vegetation, standing biomass and soil compositions are caused by interactions between grazing, soil and vegetation, and these interactions determine the transitions of semi-arid savannas.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "0106 biological sciences", "long-term", "middle awash valley", "south-africa", "grasslands", "african savanna", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "01 natural sciences", "nitrogen", "rangelands", "redistribution", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "mineralization", "phosphorus"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2011.02.004"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Journal%20of%20Arid%20Environments", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1016/j.jaridenv.2011.02.004", "name": "item", "description": "10.1016/j.jaridenv.2011.02.004", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2011.02.004"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2011-07-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/j.1365-2745.2011.01832.x", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-09-20T16:17:38Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2011-03-28", "title": "Scale Of Nutrient Patchiness Mediates Resource Partitioning Between Trees And Grasses In A Semi-Arid Savanna", "description": "1. Scaling theory predicts that organisms respond to different scales of resource patchiness in relation to their own size. We tested the hypothesis that the scale of nutrient patchiness mediates resource partitioning between large trees and small grasses in a semi-arid savanna. 2. In a factorial field experiment, Colophospermum mopane trees and associated grasses were fertilized at either a fine or coarse scale of patchiness with nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) or N + P. The growth of marked tree shoots, herbaceous biomass and leafNand P concentrations were monitored for 2 years following fertilization. 3. Responses of trees were partly scale dependent. Tree leaf N concentration and shoot length relatively increased with fertilization at a coarse scale. Tree leaf mass decreased when P was supplied at a fine scale of patchiness, suggesting intensified grass competition. 4. Phosphorus fertilization increased leaf P concentrations more in grasses than trees, whereas N fertilization increased leaf N concentration moderately in both trees and grasses. Herbaceous above-ground biomass around focal trees was negatively correlated with tree size when fertilized with N, suggesting intensified tree competition. 5. Synthesis. Our results support the hypothesis that trees benefit more from nutrients supplied at a relatively coarse scale of patchiness. No direct responses of grasses to scale were detected. In trees, the scale effect was surpassed by the effect of sample year, when rainfall varied", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "2. Zero hunger", "south-africa", "Plant Ecology", "availability", "water", "woody cover", "african savanna", "dynamics", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "01 natural sciences", "nitrogen", "vegetation", "ITC-ISI-JOURNAL-ARTICLE", "cattle dung", "METIS-303151", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "heterogeneity"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2011.01832.x"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Journal%20of%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/j.1365-2745.2011.01832.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/j.1365-2745.2011.01832.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2011.01832.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2011-03-28T00:00:00Z"}}], "links": [{"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "This document as GeoJSON", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=south-africa&f=json", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "title": "This document as HTML", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=south-africa&f=html", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection URL", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"type": "application/geo+json", "rel": "first", "title": "items (first)", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=south-africa&", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "last", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "items (last)", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=south-africa&offset=3", "hreflang": "en-US"}], "numberMatched": 3, "numberReturned": 3, "distributedFeatures": [], "timeStamp": "2026-09-21T14:54:36.929928Z"}