Ecological Effects of Fire in South African Ecosystems
This is a stimulating tale of the interplay of observation, experimentation, working hypotheses, tentative conclusions, niggling and weightier doubts and great aspirations, on the part of some score of students, on varied ecological and other aspects of t
- PDF / 88,250,381 Bytes
- 431 Pages / 481.92 x 691.68 pts Page_size
- 27 Downloads / 185 Views
Volume 48
Ecological Effects of Fire in South African Ecosystems Edited by P. de V. Booysen and N. M. Tainton
With 54 Figures
Springer-Vedag Berlin Heidelberg New York Tokyo 1984
PETER DE V. BOOYSEN Professor Emeritus in Grassland Science University of Natal, King George V Avenue Durban 4001, South Africa NEIL M. TAINTON Professor and Head of Department of Grassland Science University of Natal, P.O. Box 375 Pietermaritzburg 3200, South Africa
ISBN-13:978-3-642-69807 -1 e-ISBN-13:978-3-642-69805-7 DOl: 10.1 007/978-3-642-69805-7 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data. Main entry under title: Ecological effects of fire in South African ecosystems. (Ecological studies; v. 48) Includes bibliographical references and indexes. I. Fire ecology - South Africa. 2. Wildfires - Environmental aspects - South Africa. 3. Prescribed burning - Environmental aspects - SouthAfrica. I. Booysen, P. de V. II. Tainton, N. M. (Neil Melbourne), 1934-. III. Series: Ecological studies series; v.48. QHl95.S6E36 1984 574.5'264'0968 84-5575 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically those of translation, reprinting, re-use of illustrations, broadcasting, reproduction by photocopying machine or similar means, and storage in data banks. Under § 54 of the German Copyright Law where copies are made for other than private use. a fee is payable to "Verwertungsgesellschaft Wort" Munich.
© by Springer-Verlag Berlin' Heidelberg 1984 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1984 The use of registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for geueral use. 2131/3130-543210
Foreword
This is a stimulating tale of the interplay of observation, experimentation, working hypotheses, tentative conclusions, niggling and weightier doubts and great aspirations, on the part of some score of students, on varied ecological and other aspects of the regime and role of fire in relevant biomes and ecosystems mainly in South Africa - and on other pertinent features of fire ecology. The impressive contents is a tribute to conveners and authors alike. One can expect a profound range and depth ofinvestigation and interpretation, a closeknit fabric of knowledge, delicately interwoven with wisdom, an exposition and quintessence of information. Admipable is the collective vision responsible for selecting appropriate topics: the wide sweeps of the brush picturing the nature of the biomes; ably describing the fire regimes - whether in grassland, savanna, fynbos or forest; skillfully defining the effects of such regimes - according to ecosystem - upon aerial and edaphic factors of the habitat, upon constituent biota, individually, specifically and as a biotic community; elucidating the basic implications in the structure and dynamics of the plant aspect of that community ... and unravelling to some degree the
