Classification, description and mapping of the vegetation in Khutse Game Reserve, Botswana

There is currently no detailed classification and description of plant communities in Khutse Game Reserve (KGR), Botswana, using phytosociological techniques. The main aim of this study was to classify and describe plant communities in KGR. Classification and description of plant communities will help in understanding the plant ecology of KGR. Braun-Blanquet sampling method was applied in 91 stratified random relevés. Nine plant communities were identified and classified using Modified TWINSPAN which is contained in JUICE program. The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference in percentage cover of herbaceous plants between the different plant communities. Schmidtia pappophoroides-Stipagrostis uniplumis and Heliotropium lineare-Enneapogon desvauxii communities had higher cover (%) of herbaceous plants than other communities. Catophractes alexandri-Stipagrostis uniplumis community had the highest cover (%) of shrubs. There was no statistically significant difference in plant species diversity (Shannon-Wienner Index) and species evenness between plant communities, but there was a statistically significant difference in plant species richness between the different plant communities. Dichrostachys cinerea-Grewia flava community, Senegalia mellifera subsp. detinens-Maytenus species community and Catophractes alexandri-Stipagrostis uniplumis community had lower number of species, whereas Vachellia luederitzii var. retinens-Grewia flava community had the highest number (46) of plant species. This study will help the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) to develop an updated and informed Management Plan for the reserve, which takes cognizance of the plant ecology of the reserve.

• Publication year

  2019

• Venue

  Botswana journal of agriculture and applied sciences

• Publication date

  2019-09-26

• Fields of study

  Geography, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.37106/BOJAAS.2019.45
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Mapping Vegetation Morphology Types in Southern Africa Savanna Using MODIS Time-Series Metrics: A Case Study of Central Kalahari, Botswana

  2015cited by this paper
• Mapping vegetation morphology types in a dry savanna ecosystem: integrating hierarchical object-based image analysis with Random Forest

  2014cited by this paper
• Guidelines for phytosociological classifications and descriptions of vegetation in southern Africa

  2013influential reference
• Diversity, Population Structure and Regeneration Status of Woody Species in Dry Woodlands Adjacent to Molapo Farms in Northern Botswana

  2013cited by this paper
• Habitat heterogeneity and mammalian predator–prey interactions

  2012cited by this paper
• Guide to Grasses of Southern Africa

  2012cited by this paper
• Vegetation survey: A new focus for applied vegetation science

  2011influential reference
• The Global Index of Vegetation-Plot Databases (GIVD): a new resource for vegetation science

  2011cited by this paper
• Is translocation of stock-raiding leopards into a protected area with resident conspecifics an effective management tool?

  2010influential reference
• An ecological study of the plant communities in the proposed Highveld National Park, in the peri-urban area of Potchefstroom, South Africa

  2010cited by this paper
• Tropical savannas: Biomass, plant ecology, and the role of fire and soil on vegetation

  2010influential reference
• Modified TWINSPAN classification in which the hierarchy respects cluster heterogeneity

  2009influential reference
• Patch dynamics integrate mechanisms for savanna tree–grass coexistence

  2009cited by this paper
• Behavioral adjustments of African herbivores to predation risk by lions: spatiotemporal variations influence habitat use.

  2009cited by this paper
• The classification, mapping and description of the vegetation of the Rooipoort Nature Reserve, Northern Cape, South Africa : original research

  2009cited by this paper
• Coexistence of shrubs and grass in a semi-arid landscape: a case study of mulga (Acacia aneura, Mimosaceae) shrublands embedded in fire-prone spinifex (Triodia pungens, Poaceae) hummock grasslands.

  2009cited by this paper
• Improved quality of beneath-canopy grass in South African savannas: Local and seasonal variation

  2008cited by this paper
• Vegetation-plot data and databases in Europe: an overview

  2008cited by this paper
• The Vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland

  2008cited by this paper
• Tropical savannas and associated forests: vegetation and plant ecology

  2007cited by this paper
• Description of plant communities on the Red Sea coastal plain of Sudan

  2007cited by this paper
• Dune vegetation and coastal thicket plant communities in threatened limestone fynbos of Andrew’s Field and Tsaba-Tsaba Nature Reserve, Struisbaai, Western Cape

  2006cited by this paper
• A patch-dynamics approach to savanna dynamics and woody plant encroachment – Insights from an arid savanna

  2006cited by this paper
• The vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland.

  2006cited by this paper
• Evidence of Hierarchical Patch Dynamics in an East African savanna?

  2005cited by this paper
• Multi‐scale patterns and bush encroachment in an arid savanna with a shallow soil layer

  2005cited by this paper
• Vegetation classification as the basis for baboon management in the Bourke's Luck Section of the Blyde Canyon Nature Reserve, Mpumalanga.

  2005cited by this paper
• Good or bad rangeland? Hybrid knowledge, science, and local understandings of vegetation dynamics in the Kalahari

  2004cited by this paper
• Trees of Botswana: names and distribution

  2003cited by this paper
• Using pattern-oriented modeling for revealing hidden information: a key for reconciling ecological theory and application

  2003cited by this paper
• Diagnostic, constant and dominant species of vegetation classes and alliances of the Czech Republic: a statistical revision

  2003cited by this paper
• Vegetation gradients around artificial water points in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve of Botswana

  2002influential reference
• Trends in savanna structure and composition along an aridity gradient in the Kalahari

  2002influential reference
• Determination of diagnostic species with statistical fidelity measures

  2002cited by this paper
• JUICE, software for vegetation classification

  2002influential reference
• VEGETATION OF THE SOUTH-WESTERN ARID KALAHARI: AN OVERVIEW

  1998cited by this paper
• Bots

  1998cited by this paper
• The Probabilistic Basis of Jaccard's Index of Similarity

  1996cited by this paper
• Plant functional types and climate in a southern African savanna

  1996cited by this paper
• Viewpoint: a theoretical basis for planning woody plant control to maintain species diversity.

  1996cited by this paper
• The Quaternary Palaeoenvironmental history of the Kalahari, Southern Africa

  1996cited by this paper
• Introduction to Biostatistics

  1996cited by this paper
• An ecological study of the major vegetation communities of the Vaalbos National Park, Northern Cape. 2. The Graspan-Holpan section

  1995cited by this paper
• An ecological study of the major vegetation communities of the Vaalbos National Park, Northern Cape. 1. The Than-Droogeveld section

  1994cited by this paper
• An African Savanna: Synthesis of the Nylsvley Study.

  1993cited by this paper
• Biodiversity of rangelands.

  1993cited by this paper
• Dynamics of savanna ecosystems

  1992cited by this paper
• Ecology of Tropical Savannas

  1987cited by this paper
• Application of the Braun-Blanquet cover-abundance scale for vegetation analysis in land development studies

  1978cited by this paper
• Aims and Methods of Vegetation Ecology

  1974cited by this paper

• African vegetation studies: introduction to a Special Collection

  2024cites this paper
• Analysis of the I m pacts of Climate Variations Across Semi-Arid and Arid Regions of Southeast Africa

  year unknowncites this paper