Abstract
In arid grassland, patches with reduced perennial plant cover support a diverse annual flora that is also present at a lower density in the surrounding vegetation. The patches appear to be maintained in these arid dunefields by the activities of antelope and burrowing rodents, which destroy perennial grasses by trampling or digging, thereby creating spaces for annual plants to germinate and grow, and increasing the nutrient status of the soil through the deposition of faecal pellets. Although seed was brought in to such patches by antelope, the amount was small and mainly of a species that grows only on saline pans. No intact seed was found in a small sample of rodent faecal pellets.
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