Why Do Grasslands Have No Trees?
Why Do Grasslands Have No Trees?
Why Do Grasslands Have No Trees?
by Julia Wakeling, with William Bond and Michael Cramer, Botany Department, University of Cape Town
T
he Highveld grasslands cover a large area south of
Johannesburg. If you have ever driven through them you may
have been amazed at the vast openness – not a single tree in
sight – until you come across the ubiquitous gum tree at a lay-by. Trees
manage to grow in towns and plantations in grassland areas, so they
can obviously survive the cool climate. Why then do the grasslands
have no trees? This was the topic of my recent Masters degree in
Botany. In my travels I spoke to many people and everyone had their
own theory, but not one that could really answer my question. Some
were correct locally, for instance, many trees do not survive in soils
that become seasonally waterlogged, and true, many of the flatter
parts of the Highveld have soils like this, but certainly not the whole
Grassland Biome.
TOP: An exquisite grassland with indigenous trees growing in the kloof and eucalypt plantations
A frosty answer
beyond. ABOVE: A Paperbark Thorn, Acacia sieberiana, re-sprouting after a severe frosting.
‘Ah, it’s too cold and trees are killed by frost’, is probably the most Photos: Julia Wakeling.
common explanation. As I said before, trees do survive the winter, and
grow in towns, plantations, along roadsides and in forest patches high are certainly tracts of land that have been cleared of trees within the
up in Drakensberg valleys. And what about savanna trees? I wanted last few hundred to 1000 years, but they are a small fraction of the
to explore how frost would affect the types of trees that normally entire Grassland Biome from Johannesburg to the Eastern Cape and
grow within the grass layer in savannas. To do this I planted seedlings Piet Retief to Bloemfontein!
of acacia thorn trees in grassland and savanna areas and monitored
their survival through the frosty winter of 2007. Near Piet Retief and A fiery debate
Volksrust almost all the seedlings survived the winter frosts, whereas Fire, you think? I’m afraid not. Some grassland areas burn every year,
in a cooler area near Ermelo, only a few seedlings survived, but if those yet others burn perhaps only every 10 to 15 years. This is also true for
surviving seedlings could become adults, the area would turn into a savannas, which are grasslands with an abundance of successful trees.
wooded savanna. A few species, such as Ouhout Leucosidea sericea, But how do savanna trees cope with fire? Seedlings are easily burnt
do grow on hillsides in grassland areas – highlighting yet again that to the ground, but as the roots are not killed the plant can re-sprout.
woody species can cope with the climate – but for the most part the Seedlings grow into saplings, which, if they grow fast before the next
Highveld grasslands are wide open grassy expanses. fire, may grow tall enough to get their leaves above the height of the
flames. If successful, they have ‘escaped’ into adulthood. If still too
Cut down in their prime small, a sapling will burn to the ground and re-sprout from its roots
Perhaps people cut them down? This is a popular idea for explaining the again. A sapling can survive for decades by repeated re-sprouting, but
tree-less nature of grasslands all over the world. But pollen cores and if it is to reproduce successfully it needs to grow above flame height.
soil carbon analyses are revealing that the Highveld grasslands have Propagation is after all a goal of all living organisms. For the little tree,
been present for over 10 000 years (as have many other grasslands in all depends on growing fast enough between fires. So what influences
the world), much longer than the influence of modern humans. There this growth rate?