Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T19:37:20.665Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The influence of elephants and fire on a Brachystegia-Julbernardia woodland in Zimbabwe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Peter R. Guy
Peter R. Guy
Affiliation:
Sengwa Wildlife Research Institute, Post Bag 6002, Zimbabwe
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Brachystegia-Julbernardia (miombo) woodlands inside and outside the Sengwa Wildlife Research Area, Zimbabwe, show major differences in structure, biomass and species composition. The woodlands inside the research area have a lower stem area, tree density and biomass than those outside it. The shrubs inside the research area occur at a higher density than they do outside it, but the biomasses of shrubs in the two woodlands are similar. The woodlands inside the research area are affected by elephants and fire, whereas those outside it are affected mainly by fire. It is postulated that the policy of maintaining the elephant population at 250 in the research area is having a beneficial effect and, provided elephants and fire are kept in check, the woodlands inside the research area will eventually recover.

Keywords

elephantsfirewoodlandZimbabwe
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 5 , Issue 2 , May 1989 , pp. 215 - 226
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

Anderson, D. G. & Walker, B. H. 1974. Vegetation composition and elephant damage in the Sengwa Wildlife Research Area, Rhodesia. Journal of the South African Wildlife Management Association 4:1–14.Google Scholar
Craig, G. C. 1983. Vegetation survey of Sengwa. Bothalia 14(3 and 4):759–763.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cumming, D. H. M. 1975. A field study of the ecology and behaviour of warthog. Museum Memoir No. 7. Trustees of the National Museums and Monuments of Rhodesia, Harare, Zimbabwe. 159 pp.Google Scholar
Curtis, G. T. & McIntosh, R. P. 1951. An upland forest continuum in the prairie-forest border region of Wisconsin. Ecology 32:476–496.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guy, P. R. 1981a. The estimation of the above-ground biomass of the trees and shrubs in the Sengwa Wildlife Research Area, Zimbabwe. South African Journal of Wildlife Research 11:135–142.Google Scholar
Guy, P. R. 1981b. Changes in the biomass and productivity of woodlands in the Sengwa Wildlife Research Area, Zimbabwe. Journal of Applied Ecology 18:507–519.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jachman, H. & Bell, R. H. V. 1985. Utilization by elephants of the Brachystegia woodlands of the Kasungu National Park, Malawi. African Journal of Ecology 23:245–258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lock, J. M. 1977. Preliminary results from fire and elephant exclusion plots in Kabalega National Park, Uganda. East African Wildlife Journal 15:229–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Penzhorn, B. L., Robbertsee, P. J. & Olivier Maria, C. 1974. The influence of the African elephant on the vegetation of the Addo Elephant National Park. Koedoe 17:137–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutherford, M. C. 1978. Primary production ecology in southern Africa. Pp. 621–659 in Werger, M. J. A. (ed.). Biogeography and Ecology of Southern Africa. Dr W. Junk bv. Publishers, The Hague. 1439 pp.Google Scholar
Skeen, J. N. 1973. An extension of the concept of importance value in analyzing forest communities. Ecology 54:655–656.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smart, N. O. E., Hatton, J. G. & Spence, D. H. N. 1985. The effect of long-term exclusion of large herbivores on vegetation in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda. Biological Conservation 33:229–245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spence, D. H. N. & Angus, A. 1971. African grassland management – burning and grazing in Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda. Pp. 319–331 in Duffey, E. & Watt, A. S. (eds). The scientific management of animal and plant communities for conservation. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford. 652 pp.Google Scholar
Stromgaard, P. 1985. Biomass, growth and burning of woodland in a shifting cultivation area of south central Africa. Forest Ecology and Management 12:163–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomson, P. J. 1975. The role of elephants, fire and other agents in the decline of a Brachystegia boehmii woodland. Journal of the South African Wildlife Management Association 5:11–18.Google Scholar
Wild, H. & Grandvaux Barbosa, L. A. 1967. Vegetation map of the Flora Zambesiaca area. Supplement to Flora Zambesiaca. (Eds Wild, H. & Fernandes, A.). M. O. Collins and Government Printer, Harare, Zimbabwe.Google Scholar