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Habitat Suitability Assessment of Ts'ehlanyane

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Habitat Suitability Assessment of Ts'ehlanyane HABITAT SUITABILITY ASSESSMENT OF TS’EHLANYANE NATIONAL PARK, LESOTHO: VEGETATION DESCRIPTION AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR WILDLIFE INTRODUCTIONS Compiled by ME Daemane, Charlene Bissett, Lourens de Lange & Hugo Bezuidenhout Conservation Services, Kimberley, SANParks February 2017 1 1. BACKGROUND The Ts’ehlanyane National Park (TNP) was first established by Earth Plan consultants in 1997 to be developed as a nature reserve for conserving the representative fauna and flora of the Alpine Belt. In 2000 the nature reserve was handed over to the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority and in 2005 the Government of Lesotho in the Ministry of Tourism Environment and Culture took over the management of TNP. The park is located in the northern highlands of Lesotho deep in the front range of the Maluti Mountains at the junction of the Ts’ehlanyane and Hololo rivers (Figure 1). TNP encompasses approximately 5 392 hectares of extremely rugged mountainous terrain and it is the second largest Protected Area in Lesotho (Figure 1). It has an altitude ranging from 1940 to 3112 meters above sea level and is considered mostly sub-alpine. It owes its origin to the access road to the Hlotse tunnel as part of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project. TNP has exceptional scenic, natural and wilderness features. All large mammalian fauna were extirpated from TNP in the early 1900s (Morake 2010; Boshoff & Kerley 2013). The first faunal introduction into TNP was achieved in 2008. A game fence was erected around a 426ha area within the TNP in preparation for the first faunal introductions from South Africa (Figure 2).Toward the end of 2008, South Africa donated 10 eland (Tragelaphus oryx) to TNP and a further 15 eland were introduced from South Africa in 2009 to supplement the first introduction. Figure 1: Location of Ts’ehlanyane National Park, Bokong and Sehlabathebe within Lesotho. Neighbouring South African provinces are also presented. 2 1.1. Objective for the assessment The Maluti Drakensberg Transfrontier Programme (MDTP) and stakeholders requested a team of experts from Lesotho and South Africa to undertake a habitat assessment that will assist in the decision making regarding the request for zebra (Equus quagga/Equus zebra zebra) donations to TNP. This request also follows a previous game donation by South African National Parks and Free State Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs where 25 eland were donated to TNP. 2. HABITAT ASSESSMENT A team of experts from South Africa and Lesotho led by MDTP Conservation specialist undertook a habitat assessment in TNP from the 30 January to 03 February 2017. The field work was aimed at assessing the feasibility for new game introductions by verifying the landscape features such as vegetation type, associated biomass and forage availability; size of the park; water availability; staff capacity and general challenges associated with biodiversity management. Two days were set aside for field assessments. The area covered during these field assessments are shown in Figure 2. Figure 2: The area covered during the habitat assessment in Ts’ehlanyane National Park, Lesotho. 3 2.1. Vegetation TNP falls within the Grassland Biome and is dominated by herbaceous vegetation of relatively short and simple structure, usually of the family Poaceae (Mucina & Rutherford, 2006). Woody plants are confined to specific habitats such as smaller escarpments and drainage lines. 2.1.1. Bioregions TNP falls within the Drakensberg Grassland Bioregion, consisting of three vegetation types: Drakensberg-Amathole Afromontane Fynbos (Gd 6), Lesotho Highland Basalt Shrubland (Gd 8) and Drakensberg Afroalpine Heathland (Gd 10) (Figure 2). Drakensberg-Amathole Afromontane Fynbos (Gd 6): dominated by small trees and shrubs in steep valleys and escarpment slopes, stream gullies, and depressions. Lesotho Highland Basalt Shrubland (Gd 8): the landscape consists of many plateaus and high ridges of mountains separated by deep valleys. Drakensberg Afroalpine Heathland (Gd 10): found in the highest plateaus and mountain ridges above an altitude of approximately 2900 metres above sea level (masl). The frost action is important in alpine soil formation, where the freezing and thawing of the soil heaves the soil material, resulting in gradual removal of finer soil particles downslope. Figure 3: The Drakensberg Grassland Bioregion consisting of three vegetation types in Ts’ehlanyane National Park Lesotho. Source data: Mucina & Rutherford 2006. 4 2.1.2. Delineation of plant communities A broad vegetation classification, description and mapping is useful at a broader scale, however finer refinement is still required at a local scale (i.e. park scale) to divide the park into plant communities. Vegetation sampling previously undertaken by Lesotho officials were used together with data collected in January 2017 to identify the most dominant plant communities and associated habitats. Vegetation types by Mucina & Rutherford, 2006 (Figure 3) were realigned with landscape features using Google Earth Pro for accuracy and three plant communities were identified (Figure 4). 1. Leucosidea sericea - Buddleja salviifolia Shrubland This plant community occurs in the Drakensberg-Amathole Afromontane vegetation type. The drainage lines and the footslopes are mostly dominated by Leucosidea sericea. The drier areas outside the drainage lines are dominated by Searsia divaricata, Passerina monticola, Rhamnus prinoides, Diospyros austro-africana, Artemisia afra and Buddleja loricata and Buddleja salviifolia. The bamboo reed, Thamnocalamus tessellatus occasionally occur on the footslope but are more abundant on the midslope valley. The most dominant grasses are Cymbopogon excavates, Aristida congesta subsp. barbicolis, Merxmuellera macowanii, Hyparrhenia hirta and forbs such as Helichrysum and Senecio species. Figure 4: Finer delineation of the Drakensberg Grassland Bioregion resulted into four plant communities in Ts’ehlanyane National Park. 2. Passerina montana Shrubland This plant community consists of plateaus and high ridges of mountains often separated by deep valleys in the Lesotho Highland Basalt Grassland vegetation type. Vegetation is closed, short grassland with many areas dominated by Passerina montana, Searsia pyroides and 5 Chrysocoma ciliata. The depressions are dominated by Leucosidea sericea and Buddleja loricata. Themeda triandra, Helictotrichon longifolium and Cymbopogon excavatus tend to be more dominant at the lower and middle elevations whereas Merxmuellera disticha occurs at higher elevation. 3. Themeda triandra – Festuca caprina Grassland This plant community tends to be more dominant on the middle and high elevations in the Lesotho Highland Basalt Grassland vegetation type. The middle elevations are dominated by Themeda triandra, Cymbopogon excavatus, Harpochloa falx, Elionurus muticus, Pentaschistis oreodoxa, Eragrostis chloromelas, Eragrostis racemosa and Eragrostis capensis. Leucosidea sericea is encroaching some areas in the middle elevations possibly due to lack of fire in the area. The higher altitudes are dominated by Festuca caprina, Heteropogon contortus, Pentaschistis oreodoxa, Microchloa caffra and Merxmuellera disticha. Eland seem to mainly utilize this plant community as a lot of droppings were encountered in this area. A herd of approximately 23 eland were seen utilizing these areas on the 2nd February 2017 (Figure 5). Figure 5: A herd of eland, approximately 23 individuals, utilizing the Lesotho Highlands Basalt Grassland in Ts’ehlanyane National Park. Photo: Lourens de Lange. 6 4. Helichrysum trilineatum - Chrysocoma ciliata Heathland This heathland community occupies a narrow strip at the edge of the escarpments in the Drakensberg Afroalpine Heathland vegetation type (Killick 1963). Short shrub-dominated vegetation such as Helichrysum trilineatum, Erica species and Chrysocoma ciliata are interspersed with alpine grassland such as Merxmuellera disticha, Mermuellera drakensbergensis and Festuca caprina. Cushion plant species forming low mats such as Helichrysum species are also common. 2.3 Fire Grassland is a fire-prone ecosystem and fire therefore plays a crucial role in the maintenance of vegetation structure and plant species composition (Mucina & Rutherford 2006). Fire suppression may also result in vegetation transformation such as a succession trend from an herbaceous forbland towards a shrubland structure and plant species composition. The key components of a fire regime in the grassland ecosystem are the frequency, seasonality and intensity of fires (Gill 1975). Fire in grasslands occurs every 1-4 years and, in montane grasslands, occurs mostly in late winter from July to September (Le Maitre & Midgley 1992). Fire intensity depends on fuel moisture, air temperature and wind speed. Lightening is also the primary natural source of ignition for grassland fires. Factors such as rainfall and fire regime will therefore play a major role in influencing vegetation structure and plant species composition in TNP. 2.4 Water in the landscape The park is located deep in the front range of the Maluti Mountains at the confluence of the Ts’ehlanyane and Hololo rivers. Besides these two main rivers, there are several tributaries originating from the steep, upper midslopes providing enough water for the wildlife especially during the summer season. Snow is a common feature during the winter months and this provides extra precipitation providing water during the dry season. Furthermore, an artificial waterhole has been erected by
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