The effects of pruning on shoot production and basal increment of Acacia tortilis

The shoot production of pruned, felled and undamaged Acacia tortilis trees on an old land site in the northern Transvaal was compared over two growing seasons. Trees were tolerant of damage and continued to increase in size when all current season’s shoots were removed. Basal increment of treated pruned trees was less than controls. Shoot production, relative to basal area, increased after winter pruning and decreased after summer pruning. Shoot production and basal increment were positively correlated with rainfall and indicators of soil moisture. Replacement shoots of pruned trees had a higher moisture content and leaf mass in the dry season and were more thorny than shoots of undamaged trees.

• Publication year

  1988

• Venue

  South African Journal of Botany

• Publication date

  1988-04-01

• Fields of study

  Biology, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1016/S0254-6299(16)31339-4
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Phenology of seven Acacia species in South Africa

  1987cited by this paper
• Towards a method of assessing the veld condition of the Valley Bushveld in the Eastern Cape.

  1986cited by this paper
• Thorn trees and the quality of life in Msinga

  1986cited by this paper
• Effects on growth of simulated and induced shoot pruning by Tomicus piniperda as related to carbohydrate and nitrogen dynamics in Scots pine.

  1985cited by this paper
• The effect of tebuthiuron on the vegetation of the thorn Bushveld of the Northern Cape – a preliminary report

  1985cited by this paper
• Herbivory: The Dynamics of Animal-Plant Interactions.

  1984cited by this paper
• The production potential of an Acacia karroo community utilized by cattle and goats.

  1984cited by this paper
• Acacia tortilis subsp. heteracantha productivity in the Tugela Dry Valley Bushveld: preliminary results

  1983cited by this paper
• Seasonal woody plant shoot growth in Burkea afrieana — Ochna pulchra savanna

  1982cited by this paper
• Carbohydrate Reserve, Phenology, and Growth Cycles of Nine Colorado Range Species

  1981cited by this paper
• Veld management in the semi‐arid bush‐grass communities of the eastern cape

  1981cited by this paper
• Supply of Fuel-wood for Rural Populations in South Africa

  1981cited by this paper
• Report on the state of knowledge on browse in East Africa in 1980.

  1980cited by this paper
• The expected response of acacia karroo hayne to moisture stress and defoliation

  1980cited by this paper
• The production and consumption of Acacia browse and its potential for animal protein production.

  1980cited by this paper
• The browse production of some trees of the Sahel: relationships between maximum foliage biomass and various physical parameters.

  1980cited by this paper
• A review of browse and its role in livestock production in southern Africa.

  1980cited by this paper
• Grazing as an Optimization Process: Grass-Ungulate Relationships in the Serengeti

  1979cited by this paper
• Primary production ecology in southern Africa

  1978cited by this paper
• Multiple defoliation effects on herbage yield, vigor, and total nonstructural carbohydrates of five range species.

  1977cited by this paper
• The goat in a bush‐grass community

  1972cited by this paper
• Acacia karroo intrusion: The effect of burning and sparing

  1972cited by this paper
• The Durian Theory or the Origin of the Modern Tree

  1949cited by this paper

• Putting the pieces together: woody plant encroachment across a precipitation gradient in southern Africa

  2025cites this paper
• Vachellia tortilis subsp. raddiana (Savi): A review on its ecology, traditional uses, pharmacological properties and conservation strategies in arid ecosystems

  2025cites this paper
• Patterns and Determinants of Woody Plant Growth in Savannas

  2019cites this paper
• Browsing Herbivore–Woody Plant Interactions in Savannas

  2019cites this paper
• Savanna browse production. 2: Prediction

  2014cites this paper
• Does large herbivore removal affect secondary metabolites, nutrients and shoot length in woody species in semi-arid savannas?

  2013cites this paper
• Deciduous sapling responses to season and large herbivores in a semi-arid African savanna

  2013cites this paper
• Adaptive resource use in a re-introduced black rhinoceros population

  2011cites this paper
• EDUCATIONAL TECHNIQUES THAT FOSTER CREATIVE SOLUTIONS AND GOOD DATA IN FIELD BIOLOGY: EXAMPLES FROM 3 CONTINENTS

  2009influential citation
• Effects of water, grass and N on responses of Acacia karroo seedlings to early wet season simulated browsing: Aboveground growth and biomass allocation

  2008cites this paper
• Ecology of Chital (Axis axis) in Gir

  2008cites this paper
• Effects of herbivores, fire and harvesting on the population dynamics of Acacia drepanolobium sjoestedt in Laikipia, Kenya.

  2007cites this paper
• Interactions between large African browsers and thorny Acacia on a wildlife ranch in Kenya

  2006cites this paper
• A plant ecological evaluation of mechanical bush thinning in Marakele Park, Limpopo Province

  2006cites this paper
• The effect of catena position and stump characteristics on the coppice response of three savannah fuelwood species

  2005influential citation
• Acacia karroo responses to early dormant season defoliation and debarking by goats in a semi-arid subtropical savanna

  2005influential citation
• From snapshot information to long-term population dynamics of Acacias by a simulation model

  2000cites this paper
• Stump size and the number of coppice shoots for selected savanna tree species

  2000cites this paper
• Browse production and offtake by free-ranging goats in an arid zone, Kenya

  1999cites this paper
• Review article: Vegetative growth, reproduction, browse production and response to tree clearing of woody plants in African savanna

  1996cites this paper
• The regrowth of Colophospermum mopane following clearing

  1990cites this paper