Development of degradation models for Botsalana game reserve
Abstract
In this study, sites were selected t o deliberately represent the
different levels o f degradation in Botsalano Game Reserve which
is situated 30Km north of Mafikeng in the Lehurutshe region,
Northwest Province, and 350Km from Johannesburg. Sites were
chosen closer to water points, near old kraals, and under big
trees to represent highly degraded sites, open grassland for
moderate degradation and closer to camp sites, fences and offices
to represent less degraded.
Biomass, species composition and soil characteristics like soil
colour, soil texture, cation exchange capacity and organic carbon
percentages were compared for a total of 70 sites chosen.
Integrated System for Plant Dynamics (ISPD ) was used to construct
the degradation models by using DCA and DMOC ordination
techniques, degradation models which showed the position of
different site s on the degradation gradient were constructed.
Biomass and degradation were compared using Spearman' s rank
correlation coefficient which showed a negative correlation. Some
species were also selected to be representative of either high,
less or even moderately degraded areas. All the findings in this
study show that some areas of the park need restoration
especially those severely degraded areas, this can be done by re-seeding
and protecting the areas by fences or de-stocking.