Name:
Sub-Escarpment Grassland Macrogroup
Reference:
NatureServe Biotics 2019
Description:
This macrogroup includes communities growing on the rolling hills and flat plains of the foothills of the Drakensberg and Northern Escarpment. The elevation ranges from 600 to 1700 m. Rainfall comes in the summer, and annual mean precipitation varies between 400 and 1000 mm, with a strong gradient decreasing from northeast to southwest. Due to their location, some communities get additional moisture from fog or mist. Besides plains and rolling hills, the landscape includes places with rocky outcrops and very steep slopes. The vegetation consists of low or tall tussock grasslands usually dominated by <i>Themeda triandra</i> and <i>Hyparrhenia hirta</i>. Communities subject to overgrazing or growing on poorer soils tend to be dominated by grasses such as <i>Elionurus muticus, Sporobolus pyramidalis, Sporobolus indicus var. capensis (= Sporobolus africanus), Aristida junciformis, Eragrostis curvula (= Eragrostis chloromelas), Eragrostis plana</i>, and others including <i>Eragrostis capensis, Panicum</i> spp., <i>Cymbopogon caesius, Cymbopogon nardus, Brachiaria serrata</i>, and <i>Digitaria</i> spp. Most areas have woody components as well, either shrubs or low trees of <i>Acacia</i> spp. (<i>Acacia natalitia, Acacia sieberiana, Acacia karroo</i>), some of the latter with a savannoid physiognomy. Shrubs include <i>Diospyros</i> spp., <i>Rhus</i> spp., <i>Euclea natalensis, Asparagus setaceus, Asparagus laricinus, Felicia muricata, Felicia filifolia, Mellolobium microphyllum</i>, and many others.
Accession Code:
urn:lsid:vegbank.org:commConcept:40704-{79860FF8-4A68-4694-8731-7D04B3B423C9}
Plot-observations of this Community Concept:
0
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