Thando Caroline Twala

University of the Witwatersrand | wits · School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences

Under the changing climate, the persistence of Afrotemperate taxa may be threatened as suitable habitat availability decreases. The unique disjunct ranges of podocarps in southern Africa raise questions about the persistence of these species under climate change. Here, we identified likely environmental drivers of these distributions, characterised...

Drought and heat are major abiotic stresses that affect recruitment and growth which in turn affects the distribution of species. Plant distribution and forest composition may be determined by species abilities to tolerate and/or avoid drought and heat stress, particularly at the vulnerable seedling stage. Here we investigate the physiological and...

Under the changing climate, the persistence of Afrotemperate taxa may be threatened as suitable habitat availability decreases. The unique disjunct ranges of podocarps in southern Africa raise questions about the persistence of these species under climate change. Here, we identified likely environmental drivers of these distributions, characterised...

Seed dormancy defines the environmental conditions in which a seed can germinate. Germination is timed to avoid unfavourable environmental conditions for plant establishment and growth. Podocarpaceae have an underdeveloped embryo which may delay germination. We aimed to establish if Podocarpus henkelii and P. latifolius produce underdeveloped embry...