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Acacia Related Shrub Communities of the Dry South-Western Free State

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Acacia Related Shrub Communities of the Dry South-Western Free State Soulh Afnr:an Journal of 80/811y 2001 67 28' ~ 286 Copynghl () NISC Ply Ltd Pnnled If! Soulh Afne;} - All nghls reserved SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL Of BOTANY ISSN 0254- 6299 Acacia related shrub communities of the dry south-western Free State PW Malan 1*, HJT Venter? and PJ du Preez? , Department of Biology, University of North West, Private Bag X2046, Mmabatho 2735, South Africa " Department of Botany and Genetics, University of the Free State, PO Box 339, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa .. Corresponding author, e-mail: [email protected] Received 23 February 2000, accepted in revised form 25 September 2000 Little information is available on the vegetation of the ref ined by Braun-Blanquet Procedures, resulted in 20 southern Free State, A phytosociological anatysis of the plant communities. These communities have ecological Acacia communities of the dry southwestern Free State similarities and differences as pointed out by the DCA is presented. Releves were compiled in 83 stratified ordination. rando m sample plots, A TWINSPAN classification, Introduction Mentis and Huntley (1982) stated the necessity to dete rm in e ered by farmers to be a seriou s problem in large areas of the the location and extent of the major vegetation types within savanna (Smit 1999). According to Smit (1999), the reduc­ the Grassland Biome. The study area (Figure 1) is situated tion in grass production (and grazing capacity) con tributes to within the Nama-Karoo Biome (Rutherford and Westlall an increase in woody plant density. 1994). Studies have shown that soil under th e canopies of Acacia Plant communities are conceived as vegetation units thaI trees has higher concentrations of nitrogen, soil organ ic are characterised by their floristic composition (Whittaker matler, phosphate and eXChangeable cations like potassi­ 1978). Each plant community may thus be regarded as a um, magnesium an d calci um compared to soil fro m the open unique entity with its own species composition and associat­ areas. In addition, soil un der these tree canopies otten ed set of environmental factors. According to Westhoff exhibits a higher pH and lower electrical resistance (h igh (1971) the description of plant communities is essential to concentrations 01 soluble salts) than soil between tree provide a scientific inventory for conservation and in gener­ canopies (Smit 1999). Acacia species thus play an important al for the preservation of biotic diversity. role in soi l enrichment. The aim of this study is to classily and ecologically inter­ pret the Acacia communities in the arid south-weste rn Free Study Area State by means of Braun-Blanquet procedures. Acacias are a cons picuous feature of our vegetation and there is much The study area (Figure 1) is pa rt 01 the Nama-Karoo Biome demand for information about them (Carr 1976). According (Rutherford and Westfall 1994) and falls within the to Carr (1976), the genus Acacia is one 01 the most wid e­ 300-400mmiannum rainlall interval (Weather Bureau 1965 ). spread and conspicuous genera in Africa. It was thus decid­ Veld types included are the Orange River Broken Veld (Veld ed to describe the thornveld communities as a separate ent i ~ Types 35, 36 and 40 respectively 01 Acocks 1988) and th e ty 01 the south -western Free State. Shrubland communities Orange River Nama Karoo (Hoffman 1996). 01 the rocky outcrops (Malan et al. 1998) and the drainage channels (Malan et al. 2000) within the southern and south­ Geology western Free State also contain Acacia species. A phytoso­ ciolog ical table of the Acacia communities is avai lable from The main stratigraphiC unit is the Ecca Group (SACS 1980). the lirst author. Alluvium , sand an d calcrete depOSits al so occur and are In savanna, negative com petition interaction between mainly situated in the north-western co rn er of the so uthern woody plants and grasses has been demonstrated by sev­ Free State, south-west 01 Jacobsdal, as well as in the region eral studies (Smit 1999). This negative competition interac­ of Luckhoff in the extreme south-western part s. Dolerite tion is mainly for available soil water, and high tree densities, dykes Irequently occur, especially in the reg ion of the especially in the more arid savannas. High tree densities Vanderklool Dam (Du Toit 1954). suppress the grass cover. The increase in tree density is commonly refe rred to as bush encroachment an d is consid- 282 Malan Ven ter and Du Preez 29 'S ; P~~,::u,g. 27 'E . \Jacobsdal Bloemfonte•in f{ClluuJic of Suu rh Africa \ N , ~400 mm Rainfall Jsohyel • I ",,) l UC~"Cf/ ; . Wcpener • . \. ,"au7. Smith '- \ \ Zasl,on. -~ "-' ~r/ ~IIII 1.01 StUdy Area o 50 100 km Figure 1: The locatIon at the study area in relatIon to towns Soils and Land Types Braun-Blanquet scale (M ueller-Dombois and Ellenberg 1974). The most common soil group is lime rich and weakly devel· Two-way indicator species analysis (TWINS PAN) (Hill oped on rock of the Kimberley and Plooysburg forms (Soil 1979a) was applied to the floristic data se t in order to derive Classification Working Group 199 1). Other soil groups a first approx imation of the plant communities of the area. In include sands , combinations of red clays and undifferentiat­ order to determine vegetation gradients and the relationship ed rocks and lithoso ls. Water and wind easily erode the soil. with environmental variabl es, Oetrended Correspondence Natural vegetation is mostly confined to shallow, rocky, non­ An alysis (DECORANA) (Hill 1979b) was applied to the f1oris­ arable soils. According to Hoffman (1996) red and yellow lic data set. apedal, freely draining young soils are prominent in the Taxon and author names comply with those of Arnold and larges1 part of the Orange River Nama Karoo. De Wet (1993) . The Ae, Ag and Da land types are most prominent in the northern and western parts of the study area. These soi ls Results and Discussion are mainly red with a high base status, (Ae and Ag land types). Duplex soils (clayish soils with a sandy layer on top) The vegetation of the study area separates into distinct plant with red B-horizons also occur (Da land type). tn the south­ communities. The variation in topography creates a variety ern parts of the study area, the soi l surface is rocky, exposed of habitats that in turn bear different plant communities. rock covering 60-80% of the surface (tb land type). The Ib Different utilisation patterns also contribute to this va riety of land type is prominent in the region of the Van der Kloof Dam communities. The hierarchical classification is as follows: (Land Type Survey StaH, in press). 1 Acacia mellifera - Tarchonanthus camphoratus A detailed description of the physical environment 01 the Major Community study area is presented in Malan et al. (1998). 1.1 Acacia melhfera - Schmidtia pappophoroides Community Methods 1.2 Hermannia comosa - Acacia mellifera Community 1.3 Rhus burchellii - Lantana rugosa Community Releves were compiled in 83 stratified random sa mple plots. 1.4 Justicea cuneafa- Sporobolus fimbriafus Community Care was taken to avoid sampling of severely degraded veg­ 1.5 Melhania rehmannii - Corbichonia decumbens etation and excessively disturbed areas. Rainfall was used Community as a first stratification of the study area with land type for a 1.6 Cenchrus ciliaris - Acacia mellifera Community more detailed strati fi cation. 1.6.1 Cenchrus cifiaris - Fingerhuthia africana Plot sizes were fixed at 1DOm ;', which are in accordance Sub-community with , ptot sizes used by Scheepers (1975) , Bredenkamp and 1.6.2 Grewia flava - Hermannia bryoniifolia Sub-community Theron (1978), Rossouw (1983), Van Wyk (1983) , Muller 2 Cheilanthes ecklonoana - Oigilaria eriantha (1986), Du Preez (1991), Bezuidenhout (1993) and Fu ts Major community (1993). For every ptant species present in the sample plot, a 2.1 Asparagus mucronatus - Rhus ciliata Community cove r-abundance value was estimated according to the 2.2 Eragrostis echinohloidea - Acacia tortilis Community South Africa n Journal of Botany 2001 67 281-286 283 3 Maytenus polyacanlha - Eriocephalus spinescens Asparagus suaveo/ens and Tarchonanthus camphoratus are Major Community prominent. The latter can reach heights of up to 6 metres, 3.1 Elephantorrhiza elephantina - Acacia tortilis but in this community seldom exceeds 2 metres. The grass­ Community es Heleropogon conlortus and Themeda Iriandra have high 3.2 Edocepalus ericoides - Acacia tortiJis Community cover abundance. 3.3 Scmidlia pappophoroides - Dimorpholheca zeyher Community 1.3 Rhus burche/lii - Lanlana rugosa Community 3.4 Eragrostis obtusa·8fepharis diversispina Community The Rhus burchellii - Lantana rugosa Community is encoun· 4 Rhigozum trichotomum·Acacia karroo tered on relatively dry north-iacing slopes and on flat Major community plateaux of low hills. The soils are generally shallow «100mm deep) with a high percentage (often higher than Description of the communities 70%) surface rock. The characteristic species are the shrub Rhus burchellii Acacia mellifera - Tarchonanthus camphoratus and the forb Lanlana rugosa. R. burchel/ii commonly occurs Major Community in rocky ravines and ridge veld (Venter and Joubert 1985). This major community is found on the rocky areas in the The grass Heteropogon contortus is the only grass species southwestern parts of the study area. These sites are usual· occurring throughout the plant community. Iy situated on shallow soil on hill slopes, but are also asso­ ciated with the dry plateau edges. Geologically, the Tierberg 1.4 Juslicea cuneala - Sporobolus fimbria Ius Community Formation of the Ecca Group underlies the area. Outcrops of This sUb-community irequently occurs on the relatively dry Karoo dolerite are prominent. and often disturbed / degraded iootslopes oi rocky ridges. Acacia melli/era is diagnostic of this vegetation unit . The The soil is of a calcareous nature and the surface is often shrub Tarchonanlhus camphoralus and the thorny shrub covered with wind -blown sand.
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