Definitions

Question 1

ecology

Answer 1

Addresses the full scale of life, including interactions between biotic and abiotic environments.

Question 2

topography

Answer 2

the arrangement of natural and artificial physical features of a natural environment

Question 3

Animal unit

Answer 3

An animal with a weight of 450 kg that gains 0.5 kg in weight per day on forage with a digestible energy % of 55%`

Question 4

Benchmark site

Answer 4

A representative area of veld that is in optimum condition for livestock production

Question 5

Biome

Answer 5

Major regional ecological community of plants and animals

Question 6

browsing/grazing capacity

Answer 6

the productivity of the browsing/grazing portion of a homogeneous unit of vegetation expressed as the area of land required to maintain a single animal unit for a prolonged time period without the degeneration of soil or vegetation

Question 7

carrying capacity

Answer 7

the potential of an area to support livestock through grazing and/or browsing over an extended number of years without degeneration of soil or plants

Question 8

climax species

Answer 8

a species that is self-perpetuating in the absence of disturbance with no evidence of replacement by other plants

Question 9

decreaser species

Answer 9

a species with dominance in good veld conditions but decrease when veld is mismanaged

Question 10

ecological niche

Answer 10

range of environmental conditions in which an organism thrives in all aspects of its existence

Question 11

ecosystem

Answer 11

a biological system comprising of all living and non-living components of the system

Question 12

ecotype

Answer 12

plant type or strain within a species which results from longterm exposure to a particular environment

Question 13

increaser 1 species

Answer 13

species which dominates in poor veld conditions but increases with understocking or selective grazing

Question 14

increaser 2 species

Answer 14

species which dominates in poor veld conditions and increase with overstocking

Question 15

mixed veld

Answer 15

veld in which the acceptability of forage plants is intermediate between sweet and sour veld, thus allowing only a portion of the year to be grazed/browsed

Question 16

`over browsing

Answer 16

excessive destruction of trees and shrubs by animals to the detriment of the veld or pasture

Question 17

overgrazing

Answer 17

excessive defoliation of grass by animals to the detriment of the veld or pasture

Question 18

overstocking

Answer 18

when stocking rate exceeds the carrying capacity of the veld or pasture

Question 19

pioneer plants

Answer 19

plants that can invade a bare or disturbed site persisting there until replaced by other plants

Question 20

plant succession

Answer 20

the progressive development of vegetation through a series of different plant communities terminating in a climax community

Question 21

primary succession

Answer 21

succession on an exposed surface which has never housed vegetation

Question 22

`secondary succession

Answer 22

succession on an exposed surface where an external disturbance has destroyed previous communities of vegetation

Question 23

resilience

Answer 23

a measure of the extent to which an ecological system can change in response to external influences but can still return to its original state when conditions revert back to normal

Question 24

sour veld

Answer 24

veld in which the forrage plants become unacceptable and less nutritious on reaching maturity thus only allowing grazing in portions of the year

Question 25

sweetveld

Answer 25

veld in which forrage plants retain acceptability and nutritive value after maturity so thus veld can be used through out the year

Question 26

stocking intensity

Answer 26

mathematical expression reflecting simultaneously both the degree of concentration of livestock and the lenght of the period of occupation

Question 27

stocking pressure

Answer 27

amount of available forrage that has been allocated per animal unit during a short period of occupation

Question 28

stocking rate

Answer 28

Area of land in the system of management which the operator has alloted to each animal unit in the system and is expressed in length of grazeable/browseable period of the year

Question 29

under browsing

Answer 29

underutilization of thewoody components of vegetation

Question 30

undergrasing

Answer 30

underutilization of the herbaceous component of vegetation

Question 31

under stoking

Answer 31

when the stocking rate is less than the carrying pressure of the veld or pasture