Original Research

Phytosociology of the farm Haribes in the Nama-Karoo biome of southern Namibia

Ben J. Strohbach, Willem J. Jankowitz
Koedoe | Vol 54, No 1 | a1038 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/koedoe.v54i1.1038 | © 2012 Ben J. Strohbach, Willem J. Jankowitz | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 14 December 2010 | Published: 31 January 2012

About the author(s)

Ben J. Strohbach, National Botanical Research Institute, Namibia
Willem J. Jankowitz, School of Natural Resources and Tourism, Polytechnic of Namibia, Namibia

Abstract

Limited historic vegetation data (prior to the 1980s) are available for Namibia. Finding such historic data at Haribes prompted a follow-up survey of the vegetation. We present a classification of the recent data in this paper as a first step towards comparing the two data sets. Six new associations (three with two subassociations each) are formally described. The landscape at Haribes is dominated by a pan with surrounding hummock dunes. The pan supports the Lycio cinereumSalsoletum, whilst on the hummock dunes the SalsoloTetragonietum schenckii can be found. The surrounding plains and escarpment can be divided into three landforms: the torras with the Monsonio umbellataeBoscietum foetidae, the ranteveld with the Acacio senegalCatophractetum alexandri (and two subassociations) and calcrete ridges with the Zygophylo pubescentisLeucosphaeretum bainesii. Dry river beds on the farm support two subassociations of Anthephoro pubescentisZiziphodetum mucronatae. The area covered by each dominant landform has been calculated after being mapped. The composition and diversity of the associations are briefly compared to other known vegetation descriptions within the Nama-Karoo. Since November 2011, Haribes has been used as a resettlement farm. This may result in the overutilisation of the limited grazing resources, to the extent that the present, fairly dense Acacio senegalCatophractetum alexandri of the ranteveld is feared to become degraded to resemble the Monsonio umbellataeBoscietum foetidae of the torras.

Conservation implications: This paper describes six plant associations of the Nama-Karoo biome in arid southern Namibia. The information presented forms a baseline description, which can be used for future monitoring of the vegetation under altered land use.


Keywords

Braun-Blanquet; land use; resettlement farm; syntaxonomy; vegetation classification

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Crossref Citations

1. A first syntaxonomic description of the vegetation of the Karstveld in Namibia
Ben J. Strohbach, Marianne M. Strohbach
Vegetation Classification and Survey  vol: 4  first page: 1241  year: 2023  
doi: 10.3897/VCS.99045