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Influence of soil, tree cover and large herbivores on field layer vegetation along a savanna landscape gradient in northern Botswana |
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| Authors: | PA Aarrestad GS Masunga H Hytteborn ML Pitlagano W Marokane C Skarpe |
| Institution: | a Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Tungasletta 2, NO-7485 Trondheim, Norway b Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, NO-1432, Aas, Norway c Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NO-7491, Trondheim, Norway d Department of Wildlife and National Parks, P.O. Box 11, Maun, Botswana e Department of Wildlife and National Parks, P.O. Box 17, Kasane, Botswana f Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, Hedmark University College, NO-2480 Koppang, Norway g Plant Ecology, Department of Ecology and Evolution, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18 D, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden h Debswana Diamond Company (Pty)Ltd, P/Bag 01, Orapa, Botswana i Department of Wildlife and National Parks, P.O. Box 679, Serowe, Botswana |
| Abstract: | The response of the field layer vegetation to co-varying resource availability (soil nutrients, light) and resource loss (herbivory pressure) was investigated along a landscape gradient highly influenced by elephants and smaller ungulates at the Chobe River front in Botswana. TWINSPAN classification was used to identify plant communities. Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) and Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) were used to explore the vegetation-environment relationships. Four plant communities were described: Panicum maximum woodland, Tribulus terrestris woodland/shrubland, Chloris virgata shrubland and Cynodon dactylon floodplain. Plant height, species richness and diversity decreased with increasing resource availability and resource loss. The species composition was mainly explained by differences in soil resources, followed by variables related to light availability (woody cover) and herbivory, and by interactions between these variables. The vegetation structure and species richness, on the other hand, followed the general theories of vegetation responses to herbivory more closely than resource related theories. The results suggest a strong interaction between resource availability and herbivory in their influence on the composition, species richness and structure of the plant communities. |
| Keywords: | Browsing Elephant Grazing Plant community Soil property Vascular plant |
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