TY - JOUR
T1 - Management approaches of conservation areas
T2 - Differences in woody vegetation structure in a private and a national reserve
AU - Fisher, J. T.
AU - Erasmus, B. F.N.
AU - Witkowski, E. T.F.
AU - van Aardt, J.
AU - Asner, G. P.
AU - Wessels, K. J.
AU - Mathieu, R.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank the SANParks staff for their help with logistics in the field and scientific support, and J. Swart for assistance with information on MalaMala. The Carnegie Airborne Observatory is supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation , John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation , Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment , Avatar Alliance Foundation , W. M. Keck Foundation , Margaret A. Cargill Foundation , Mary Anne Nyburg Baker and G. Leonard Baker Jr. , and William R. Hearst III . Application of the CAO data in South Africa is made possible by the Andrew Mellon Foundation and the endowment of the Carnegie Institution for Science . Additional funding was supplied by the National Research Foundation ( NRF 2069152 ), the Natural Resources and the Environment unit of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) , and the University of the Witwatersrand . We gratefully acknowledge the field work contributions of M. Cho, P. Dwyer, R. Main, B. Majeke, C. Munyati, L. Naidoo, and P. Nkoana.
PY - 2014/1
Y1 - 2014/1
N2 - Management approaches taken in protected areas will affect their ability and effectiveness to conserve biodiversity. MalaMala (a concession within Sabi Sand Wildtuin, a private game reserve), and an adjacent area in the Kruger National Park (Kruger, statutory protected area) in South Africa provide a comparison of different types of conservation management. We measured three-dimensional woody vegetation structure, as an integral component of biodiversity, across 6200. ha in the two reserves using a LiDAR (Light-Detection-and-Ranging) sensor. We compared how different management approaches in the two reserves affected woody structural diversity. Vertical canopy diversity was measured using: i) percent cover of woody vegetation extracted from LiDAR canopy height models, ii) a volumetric pixel (voxel) approach to extract 3D vertical canopy-height profiles; and iii) horizontal diversity using landscape metrics. MalaMala had higher vegetation density than Kruger in the <. 3. m (2.5 times) and >. 6. m (2.7 times) height classes. This vegetation was in the form of larger, more cohesive patches as a result of the legacy of previous land-use (cattle ranching) and current management practices (bush clearing) and the recent increase in megaherbivores. Length of exposure to, and recent higher densities of, megaherbivores (particularly elephants) has altered the density of tall trees in the two reserves, thus affecting structural heterogeneity and associated habitat options for small-bodied vertebrates. These differences in vegetation structure are exacerbated by current management practices (e.g. bush-clearing and fire regime), with potential implications for faunal biodiversity conservation across a wide range of scales.
AB - Management approaches taken in protected areas will affect their ability and effectiveness to conserve biodiversity. MalaMala (a concession within Sabi Sand Wildtuin, a private game reserve), and an adjacent area in the Kruger National Park (Kruger, statutory protected area) in South Africa provide a comparison of different types of conservation management. We measured three-dimensional woody vegetation structure, as an integral component of biodiversity, across 6200. ha in the two reserves using a LiDAR (Light-Detection-and-Ranging) sensor. We compared how different management approaches in the two reserves affected woody structural diversity. Vertical canopy diversity was measured using: i) percent cover of woody vegetation extracted from LiDAR canopy height models, ii) a volumetric pixel (voxel) approach to extract 3D vertical canopy-height profiles; and iii) horizontal diversity using landscape metrics. MalaMala had higher vegetation density than Kruger in the <. 3. m (2.5 times) and >. 6. m (2.7 times) height classes. This vegetation was in the form of larger, more cohesive patches as a result of the legacy of previous land-use (cattle ranching) and current management practices (bush clearing) and the recent increase in megaherbivores. Length of exposure to, and recent higher densities of, megaherbivores (particularly elephants) has altered the density of tall trees in the two reserves, thus affecting structural heterogeneity and associated habitat options for small-bodied vertebrates. These differences in vegetation structure are exacerbated by current management practices (e.g. bush-clearing and fire regime), with potential implications for faunal biodiversity conservation across a wide range of scales.
KW - Carnegie Airborne Observatory
KW - Land-use succession
KW - LiDAR
KW - Management
KW - Megaherbivores
KW - Structural heterogeneity
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U2 - 10.1016/j.sajb.2013.10.016
DO - 10.1016/j.sajb.2013.10.016
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84889608852
SN - 0254-6299
VL - 90
SP - 146
EP - 152
JO - South African Journal of Botany
JF - South African Journal of Botany
ER -