Katlego K. Mashiane

1 INTRODUCTION Biodiversity is essential for maintaining ecosystem functioning and services and supporting human well-being (Oliver et al., 2015). Plant diversity in grassland ecosystems contributes to multiple ecosystem services at local and landscape scales, making conservation efforts within and among ecological communities imperative (Hautier et al., 2018). However, monitoring biodiversity at various scales is a common conservation challenge in protected areas (Ferreira et al., 2011).

Abstract : The role of biodiversity in improving the primary productivity within terrestrial ecosystems is well documented. Each species in an ecosystem has a role to play in the overall productivity of an ecosystem. Grass species nitrogen (N) estimation is essential in rangelands, especially in rugged terrain such as mountainous regions. It is an indicator of forage quality, which has nutritional implications for grazing animals.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties. RESEARCH ARTICLE Restoration Potential of Invaded Abandoned Agricultural Fields: What Does the Seed Bank Tell Us? Natalie S.