Vegetation of the Sileza Nature Reserve and neighbouring areas,  South Africa, and its importance in conserving the woody grasslands of the Maputaland Centre of Endemism

Matthews, Wayne; Wyk, A.E. van; Rooyen, N. van

doi:10.4102/abc.v29i1.586

Cited by 22 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…They do, therefore, not represent a secondary degradation product of savannas that would be expected to occur under the prevailing climatic conditions. This viewpoint is in support of the analysis by Matthews et al (1999) for the coastal grasslands of Maputaland.…”

Section: Description Of Plant Communities 1 Androstachys Johnsonii-crsupporting

confidence: 85%

Plant communities, wetlands and landscapes of the Parque Nacional de Banhine, Moçambique

Stalmans

Wishart

2005

Koedoe

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The Parque Nacional de Banhine (Banhine National Park) was proclaimed during 1972. It covers 600 000 ha in Moçambique to the east of the Limpopo River. Until recently, this park, originally and popularly known as the 'Serengeti of Moçambique', was characterised by neglect and illegal hunting that caused the demise of most of its large wildlife. New initiatives aimed at rehabilitating the park have been launched within the scope of the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park. A vegetation map was required as input to its management plan. The major objectives of the study were firstly to understand the environmental determinants of the vegetation, secondly to identify and describe individual plant communities in terms of species composition and structure and thirdly to delineate landscapes in terms of their plant community and wetland make-up, environmental determinants and distribution. A combination of fieldwork and analysis of LANDSAT satellite imagery was used. A total of 115 sample plots were surveyed. Another 222 sample points were briefly assessed from the air to establish the extent of the different landscapes. The ordination results clearly indicate the overriding importance of moisture availability in determining vegetation composition in the Parque Nacional de Banhine. Eleven distinct plant communities were recognised. They are described in terms of their structure, composition and distribution. These plant communities have strong affinities to a number of communities found in the Limpopo National Park to the west. The sandveld community is relatively the most species-rich of all communities. Different combinations of these plant communities can be grouped in five major landscapes, namely the Wetland, Grassland, Mopane, Sandveld and Androstachys landscape. These different landscapes hold six different wetland types as defined by the RAMSAR classification. The landscapes with their individual plant communities and wetland types represent a unique combination of habitats that have great intrinsic conservation value. These habitats are key to the long-term maintenance and survival of a diverse avifauna, including the original ostrich population, as well as wattled cranes.

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Section: Description Of Plant Communities 1 Androstachys Johnsonii-crsupporting

confidence: 85%

Plant communities, wetlands and landscapes of the Parque Nacional de Banhine, Moçambique

Stalmans

Wishart

2005

Koedoe

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“…Previous studies had identified the presence of only two communities: the Tall and Short Sand Forest communities (Matthews et al 1999;Matthews et al 2001;Izidine et al 2003;Gaugris et al 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sand Forest shows a high level of both plant and animal endemism, and is considered as the rarest and most valuable vegetation type in northern Maputaland (Van Wyk & Smith 2001;Botes et al 2006;. While the importance of Sand Forest has been clearly established, its structure has not been fully analysed (Matthews et al 1999;Matthews et al 2001;Izidine et al 2003;Brookes 2004;Gaugris et al 2004) and many descriptions of its dynamics are based on conjecture and are often contradictory (Van Rensburg et al 2000a). The phytogeographic affinities and similarities of Sand Forest with Afromontane and Coastal forests (Van Rensburg et al 1999;Matthews et al 2001) suggest that Sand Forest may be a relict of previous climatic conditions .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A spatial and temporal analysis of Sand Forest tree assemblages in Maputaland, South Africa

Gaugris¹,

Rooyen²

2008

South African Journal of Wildlife Research

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“…Sand Forest and Woody Grassland are two plant communities restricted to Maputaland (Matthews, Van Wyk, and Van Rooyen 1999;Van Wyk and Smith 2001) and are probably the rarest plant communities in Maputaland (Izidine, Siebert, and Van Wyk 2003;Matthews et al 2001). These forests occur under drier conditions than other southern African forest types and are best developed on ancient, linear, north-south trending dune cordons in the hinterland of the coastal plain and therefore have an unusual species composition with numerous endemic species.…”

Section: Vegetation Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Taboo and Political Authority in Conservation Policy

Izidine¹,

Siebert²,

Wyk³

et al. 2008

JSRNC

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In Mozambique, food shortages caused by years of civil war, an insatiable need for cheap sources of energy, and a burgeoning human population have placed considerable pressure on the environment through unsustainable harvesting of natural resources. Many threatened forests lie within the development zone of Maputo. The Licuáti Forest Reserve (LFR) is one such area, originally established to ensure sustainable harvesting of valuable timber trees. The LFR is also of great cultural significance to the Ronga people, as it contains a sacred forest. In recent years, deforestation in and around the LFR has been taking place at Ll% per annum because the enforcement of laws to counter illegal extraction has been weak, resulting in changes in forest structure and a decline in the diversity of large tree species. Urbanisation has resulted in the breakdown of cultural taboos and threatens not only the loss of plant resources in the LFR, but also the indigenous knowledge systems of the Ronga. The conservation status of the sacred area under threat was evaluated by use of a questionnaire, and the needs of the community determined to highlight important issues. This study revealed that traditional values and cultural rites of sacred groves

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Vegetation of the Sileza Nature Reserve and neighbouring areas, South Africa, and its importance in conserving the woody grasslands of the Maputaland Centre of Endemism

Cited by 22 publications

References 1 publication

Plant communities, wetlands and landscapes of the Parque Nacional de Banhine, Moçambique

Plant communities, wetlands and landscapes of the Parque Nacional de Banhine, Moçambique

A spatial and temporal analysis of Sand Forest tree assemblages in Maputaland, South Africa

Taboo and Political Authority in Conservation Policy

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