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

Abstract

The proposed Highveld National Park (HNP) is an area of high conservation value in South Africa, covering approximately 0.03% of the endangered Grassland Biome. The park is situated immediately adjacent to the town of Potchefstroom in the North-West Province. The objective of this study was to identify, classify, describe and map the plant communities in this park. Vegetation sampling was done by means of the Braun-Blanquet method and a total of 88 stratified random relevés were sampled. A numerical classification technique (TWINSPAN) was used and the results were refined by Braun-Blanquet procedures. The final results of the classification procedure were presented in the form of phytosociological tables and, thereafter, nine plant communities were described and mapped. A detrended correspondence analysis confirmed the presence of three structural vegetation units, namely woodland, shrubland and grassland. Differences in floristic composition in the three vegetation units were found to be influenced by environmental factors, such as surface rockiness and altitude. Incidences of harvesting trees for fuel, uncontrolled fires and overgrazing were found to have a significant effect on floristic and structural composition in the HNP. The ecological interpretation derived from this study can therefore be used as a tool for environmental planning and management of this grassland area.<p><strong>Conservation implications:</strong> Grasslands are amongst the most threatened and least conserved vegetation biomes in South Africa, with less than 1.3% currently being conserved. The HNP has significant value for biodiversity conservation and the protection of this area will contribute to the preservation of the highly threatened Highveld vegetation types.</p><strong>How to cite this article:</strong> Daemane, M.E., Cilliers, S.S. & Bezuidenhout, H., 2010, ‘An ecological study of the plant communities in the proposed Highveld National Park, in the peri-urban area of Potchefstroom, South Africa’, <em>Koedoe</em> 52(1), Art. #708, 8 pages. DOI: 10.4102/koedoe.v52i1.708<p> </p&gt

Measurements of biogenic volatile organic compounds at a grazed savannah grassland agricultural landscape in South Africa

“…During the AMMA experiment, Saxton et al (2007) also detected several monoterpenes in ambient air at Djougou with concentrations generally higher than monoterpene concentrations recorded by Serca et al (2001) (less than 20 pptv) during EXPRESSO at a forest in northern Congo. Monoterpene concentrations reported for boreal forest (Hakola et al, 2009(Hakola et al, , 2000Rinne et al, , 2005Rantala et al, 2015;Räisänen et al, 2009;Eerdekens et al, 2009;Lappalainen et al, 2009), hemiboreal mixed forest (Noe et al, 2012), temperate (Spirig et al, 2005;Stroud et al, 2005;Fuentes et al, 2007;Mielke et al, 2010), Mediterranean (Davison et al, 2009;Harrison et al, 2001) and tropical (Rinne et al, 2002) ecosystems ranged between 40 and 7200 pptv (Table 3). Therefore, there is a large variation in the monoterpene concentrations measured in different ecosystems, with concentrations measured at Welgegund being in the low to mid-range.…”

“…Long-term ambient BVOC measurements to establish seasonal cycles have been conducted extensively in several regions, which include boreal forest (Hakola et al, 2009(Hakola et al, , 2000Rinne et al, 2000Rinne et al, , 2005Rantala et al, 2015;Räisänen et al, 2009;Eerdekens et al, 2009;Lappalainen et al, 2009), hemiboreal mixed forest (Noe et al, 2012), temperate (Spirig et al, 2005;Stroud et al, 2005;Fuentes et al, 2007;Mielke et al, 2010), Mediterranean (Davison et al, 2009;Harrison et al, 2001) and tropical (Rinne et al, 2002) ecosystems. Shorter campaigns have also been conducted in western and central Africa, which include several different studies in the framework of the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (AMMA) (Grant et al, 2008;Saxton et al, 2007) and the EXPeriment for the REgional Sources and Sinks of Oxidants (EXPRESSO) (Serca et al, 2001).…”

Measurements of biogenic volatile organic compounds at a grazed savannah-grassland-agriculture landscape in South Africa

“…During the AMMA experiment, Saxton et al (2007) also detected several monoterpenes in ambient air at Djougou with concentrations generally higher than monoterpene concentrations recorded by Serca et al (2001) (less than 20 pptv) during EXPRESSO at a forest in northern Congo. Monoterpene concentrations reported for boreal forest (Hakola et al, 2009(Hakola et al, , 2000Rinne et al, , 2005Rantala et al, 2015;Räisänen et al, 2009;Eerdekens et al, 2009;Lappalainen et al, 2009), hemiboreal mixed forest (Noe et al, 2012), temperate (Spirig et al, 2005;Stroud et al, 2005;Fuentes et al, 2007;Mielke et al, 2010), Mediterranean (Davison et al, 2009;Harrison et al, 2001) and tropical (Rinne et al, 2002) ecosystems ranged between 40 and 7200 pptv (Table 3). Therefore, there is a large variation in the monoterpene concentrations measured in different ecosystems, with concentrations measured at Welgegund being in the low to mid-range.…”

“…Long-term ambient BVOC measurements to establish seasonal cycles have been conducted extensively in several regions, which include boreal forest (Hakola et al, 2009(Hakola et al, , 2000Rinne et al, 2000Rinne et al, , 2005Rantala et al, 2015;Räisänen et al, 2009;Eerdekens et al, 2009;Lappalainen et al, 2009), hemiboreal mixed forest (Noe et al, 2012), temperate (Spirig et al, 2005;Stroud et al, 2005;Fuentes et al, 2007;Mielke et al, 2010), Mediterranean (Davison et al, 2009;Harrison et al, 2001) and tropical (Rinne et al, 2002) ecosystems. Shorter campaigns have also been conducted in western and central Africa, which include several different studies in the framework of the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (AMMA) (Grant et al, 2008;Saxton et al, 2007) and the EXPeriment for the REgional Sources and Sinks of Oxidants (EXPRESSO) (Serca et al, 2001).…”

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

“…Vegetation surveys and classifications are also crucial in basic research of plant ecology and they give information for describing vegetation types and understanding various ecosystems (Chytrý et al 2011). In a protected nature reserve, it is very important to understand plant communities in order to come up with conservation strategies (Daemane et al 2010). Since the 1990s, vegetation studies have attracted some interest because of an increase in demand from experts in the field of nature conservation to come up with comprehensive systems of vegetation or habitat classifications which are needed for conservation planning and making well informed management decisions (Chytrý et al 2011).…”