Distinguishing features of forest species on nutrient-poor soils in the Southern Cape

Soils of the indigenous forest-fynbos interface in the Southern Cape were sampled for chemical and physical analyses and compared by means of anlyses of variance. Correlations among soil variables were investigated by subjecting the correlation matrices to cluster analysis. Soil data were compared with that of fynbos and tropical forest areas. Morphological and physiological features of the forest vegetation, such as evergreenness, sclerophylly, phenolic compounds in the leaves, mast fruiting (i.e. gregarious fruiting) and root mat, were correlated with the soil nutritional status.

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