A phytosociological classification of the vegetation of etosha heights private game reserve, Namibia.
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Date
2023-04
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Namibia University of Science and Technology
Abstract
The description of vegetation becomes more and more important for land management in the face of
global climate change. In this thesis a description of the vegetation of Etosha Heights Private Game
Reserve (EHGR) and its condition thereof is given. The study was conducted at Etosha Heights Private
Game Reserve in the Kunene region. The reserve is a collection of ten previously cattle farms adjacent to
the southern border of the Etosha National Park in Namibia. It forms part of the Angolan Mopane
Woodlands, with extensive Karst elements in the form of Dolomite ridges. The study area receives on
average 300 – 350 mm MAP. The reserve was stratified according to terrain features identified on aerial
images, aided by an SRTM digital terrain model. 192 plots were sampled across all initial stratification
units using the Braun-Blanquet method. These relevés were classified with modified TWINSPAN using a
synusial approach. In addition, samples of top soil were collected and analysed for chemical and physical
properties. Environmental characteristics of each relevé were subjected to a Non-metric multidimensional
scaling (NMS) ordination to understand correlations between species composition and environmental
characteristics. From the initial vegetation classification, two major vegetation units of higher
syntaxonomic ranking were identified, split and further analysed separately which then subdivided into
11 associations. Altitude, slope, sand, silt and clay are the major descriptors of these vegetation units. A
comparison of these associations with existing vegetation descriptions for the Etosha National Park and
other studies done of the Mopane veld is done. With this descriptive work, knowledge about natural
vegetation in the under-sampled arid Mopane savanna in the Kunene Region of Namibia is expanding
Description
Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Natural Resources Management at the Namibia University of Science
and Technology
Keywords
Vegetation Namibia, Etosha Nashional Park, Landscape conservation
Citation
Marufu, V. J. (2023). A phytosociological classification of the vegetation of etosha heights private game reserve, Namibia [Unpublished master's thesis]. Namibia University of Science and Technology.