Page 17 - Professorial Lecture - Professor Mapaure

2. Frequent fires (alone) slow down regeneration and recruitment of woody
plants and promote establishment and maintenance of a more grassy
formation, thus preventing development of taller, fire-resistant stages of
woody plants (Figure 10).

Figure 10: Individual effects of fire on woodland structure and functioning.

3. If elephants open up the woodland resulting in more grass growth; more grass
avails fuel for more frequent fire. Frequent fire prevents woody plant
regeneration and recruitment. These synergistic effects result in more open
woodland, or even grassland (Figure 11).

Figure 11: Synergistic effects of elephants and fire on woodland structure and
functioning.
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