Impact of communal land use and conservation on woody vegetation structure in the Lowveld savannas of South Africa - Lidar results

K. J. Wessels; R. Mathieu; B. F.N. Erasmus; G. P. Asner; I. P.J. Smit; J. A.N. Van Aardt; R. Main; J. Fisher

Impact of communal land use and conservation on woody vegetation structure in the Lowveld savannas of South Africa - Lidar results

K. J. Wessels, R. Mathieu, B. F.N. Erasmus, G. P. Asner, I. P.J. Smit, J. A.N. Van Aardt, R. Main, J. Fisher

Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review

Abstract

People in the rural, communal areas of South Africa rely on live fuel wood for more than 90% of their energy requirements. Using airborne lidar from the Carnegie Airborne Observatory (CAO) we compared tree canopy cover and height distributions between communal landscapes with heavy utilization to fully protected public and private reserves in the Lowveld of South Africa. Rangelands and fields in most of the communal sites had more vegetation cover in the 5-7m and >7m classes than most of the conservation sites, presumably due to the absence of elephants in communal rangelands. On granite substrates there was a 50% reduction in woody cover below 5m in communal rangelands. These results in conjunction with related studies, suggest that communal land use have a higher impact on the woody cover below 5m than both elephants and fire.

Original language	English (US)
State	Published - Dec 1 2011
Externally published	Yes
Event	34th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment - The GEOSS Era: Towards Operational Environmental Monitoring - Sydney, NSW, Australia Duration: Apr 10 2011 → Apr 15 2011

Other

Other	34th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment - The GEOSS Era: Towards Operational Environmental Monitoring
Country/Territory	Australia
City	Sydney, NSW
Period	4/10/11 → 4/15/11

Keywords

Carnegie airborne observatory (CAO)
Fuel wood
Lidar
Savannas
South Africa
Woody vegetation structure

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Computer Networks and Communications
Environmental Engineering

Cite this

Wessels, K. J., Mathieu, R., Erasmus, B. F. N., Asner, G. P., Smit, I. P. J., Van Aardt, J. A. N., Main, R., & Fisher, J. (2011). Impact of communal land use and conservation on woody vegetation structure in the Lowveld savannas of South Africa - Lidar results. Paper presented at 34th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment - The GEOSS Era: Towards Operational Environmental Monitoring, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Impact of communal land use and conservation on woody vegetation structure in the Lowveld savannas of South Africa - Lidar results. / Wessels, K. J.; Mathieu, R.; Erasmus, B. F.N. et al.
2011. Paper presented at 34th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment - The GEOSS Era: Towards Operational Environmental Monitoring, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review

Wessels, KJ, Mathieu, R, Erasmus, BFN, Asner, GP, Smit, IPJ, Van Aardt, JAN, Main, R & Fisher, J 2011, 'Impact of communal land use and conservation on woody vegetation structure in the Lowveld savannas of South Africa - Lidar results', Paper presented at 34th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment - The GEOSS Era: Towards Operational Environmental Monitoring, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 4/10/11 - 4/15/11.

Wessels KJ, Mathieu R, Erasmus BFN, Asner GP, Smit IPJ, Van Aardt JAN et al.. Impact of communal land use and conservation on woody vegetation structure in the Lowveld savannas of South Africa - Lidar results. 2011. Paper presented at 34th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment - The GEOSS Era: Towards Operational Environmental Monitoring, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

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abstract = "People in the rural, communal areas of South Africa rely on live fuel wood for more than 90% of their energy requirements. Using airborne lidar from the Carnegie Airborne Observatory (CAO) we compared tree canopy cover and height distributions between communal landscapes with heavy utilization to fully protected public and private reserves in the Lowveld of South Africa. Rangelands and fields in most of the communal sites had more vegetation cover in the 5-7m and >7m classes than most of the conservation sites, presumably due to the absence of elephants in communal rangelands. On granite substrates there was a 50% reduction in woody cover below 5m in communal rangelands. These results in conjunction with related studies, suggest that communal land use have a higher impact on the woody cover below 5m than both elephants and fire.",

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AU - Mathieu, R.

AU - Erasmus, B. F.N.

AU - Asner, G. P.

AU - Smit, I. P.J.

AU - Van Aardt, J. A.N.

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AB - People in the rural, communal areas of South Africa rely on live fuel wood for more than 90% of their energy requirements. Using airborne lidar from the Carnegie Airborne Observatory (CAO) we compared tree canopy cover and height distributions between communal landscapes with heavy utilization to fully protected public and private reserves in the Lowveld of South Africa. Rangelands and fields in most of the communal sites had more vegetation cover in the 5-7m and >7m classes than most of the conservation sites, presumably due to the absence of elephants in communal rangelands. On granite substrates there was a 50% reduction in woody cover below 5m in communal rangelands. These results in conjunction with related studies, suggest that communal land use have a higher impact on the woody cover below 5m than both elephants and fire.

KW - Carnegie airborne observatory (CAO)

KW - Fuel wood

KW - Lidar

KW - Savannas

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KW - Woody vegetation structure

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Impact of communal land use and conservation on woody vegetation structure in the Lowveld savannas of South Africa - Lidar results

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Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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