TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of communal land use and conservation on woody vegetation structure in the Lowveld savannas of South Africa
AU - Wessels, K. J.
AU - Mathieu, R.
AU - Erasmus, B. F.N.
AU - Asner, G. P.
AU - Smit, I. P.J.
AU - van Aardt, J. A.N.
AU - Main, R.
AU - Fisher, J.
AU - Marais, W.
AU - Kennedy-Bowdoin, T.
AU - Knapp, D. E.
AU - Emerson, R.
AU - Jacobson, J.
N1 - Funding Information:
The CSIR researchers were funded by the CSIR Strategic Research Panel. We thank South African National Parks for permission to conduct this study within the Kruger National Park. The airborne campaign and analysis was funded by the Andrew Mellon Foundation. The Carnegie Airborne Observatory is made possible by the W.M. Keck Foundation and William Hearst III.
PY - 2011/1/1
Y1 - 2011/1/1
N2 - Millions of people rely on savannas for ecosystem services, such as the provision of grazing and fuel wood, so it is important to determine the extent to which utilization affects woody vegetation resources. Using airborne LiDAR from the Carnegie Airborne Observatory (CAO), we quantified and compared tree canopy cover and height distributions between areas of contrasting management in the Lowveld savanna region of South Africa - a region connecting communal landscapes with heavy utilization (especially fuel wood harvesting) to fully protected public (Kruger National Park - KNP) and private reserves (SabiSand Game Reserve - SSGR) that conserve biodiversity. Differences in total woody vegetation cover and cover within functional height classes (1-2. m, 2-3. m, 3-5. m, 5-7. m and >7. m) were investigated between 7 sites located within (i) conservation areas (in KNP, SSGR), (ii) communal rangelands or (iii) cultivated fields in communal areas. The impact of human utilization on wood resources in the communal areas varied widely between sites. Heavy utilization on gabbro substrate greatly reduced total woody cover of the rangelands, while two other communal rangelands that were presumably less intensively utilised had double the total woody cover of conservation areas. Rangelands and fields in most of the communal sites had more vegetation cover in the 5-7. m and >7. m classes than most of the conservation sites, presumably due to the absence of elephants in communal rangelands and the active preservation of large fruiting trees. On granite substrates, which account for the majority of the study area, there was a 50% reduction in woody cover below 5. m in communal rangelands. Although large trees were clearly being conserved in communal rangelands and fields, there was a relatively low cover of vegetation below 5. m, which raise doubts about recruitment and long-term sustainability of the tree resources. These results in conjunction with other studies based on the CAO LiDAR data for experimental burn plots and large mammal exclosures in KNP, suggest that communal land use on granite substrates have a higher impact on the woody cover below 5. m than both elephants and fire.
AB - Millions of people rely on savannas for ecosystem services, such as the provision of grazing and fuel wood, so it is important to determine the extent to which utilization affects woody vegetation resources. Using airborne LiDAR from the Carnegie Airborne Observatory (CAO), we quantified and compared tree canopy cover and height distributions between areas of contrasting management in the Lowveld savanna region of South Africa - a region connecting communal landscapes with heavy utilization (especially fuel wood harvesting) to fully protected public (Kruger National Park - KNP) and private reserves (SabiSand Game Reserve - SSGR) that conserve biodiversity. Differences in total woody vegetation cover and cover within functional height classes (1-2. m, 2-3. m, 3-5. m, 5-7. m and >7. m) were investigated between 7 sites located within (i) conservation areas (in KNP, SSGR), (ii) communal rangelands or (iii) cultivated fields in communal areas. The impact of human utilization on wood resources in the communal areas varied widely between sites. Heavy utilization on gabbro substrate greatly reduced total woody cover of the rangelands, while two other communal rangelands that were presumably less intensively utilised had double the total woody cover of conservation areas. Rangelands and fields in most of the communal sites had more vegetation cover in the 5-7. m and >7. m classes than most of the conservation sites, presumably due to the absence of elephants in communal rangelands and the active preservation of large fruiting trees. On granite substrates, which account for the majority of the study area, there was a 50% reduction in woody cover below 5. m in communal rangelands. Although large trees were clearly being conserved in communal rangelands and fields, there was a relatively low cover of vegetation below 5. m, which raise doubts about recruitment and long-term sustainability of the tree resources. These results in conjunction with other studies based on the CAO LiDAR data for experimental burn plots and large mammal exclosures in KNP, suggest that communal land use on granite substrates have a higher impact on the woody cover below 5. m than both elephants and fire.
KW - Communal land use
KW - Fuel wood
KW - Kruger National Park
KW - LiDAR
KW - Savanna
KW - Woody vegetation structure
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=78149466944&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=78149466944&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.foreco.2010.09.012
DO - 10.1016/j.foreco.2010.09.012
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:78149466944
SN - 0378-1127
VL - 261
SP - 19
EP - 29
JO - Forest Ecology and Management
JF - Forest Ecology and Management
IS - 1
ER -