Original Research

The plant communities of the Andover Game Reserve, South Africa

Heath P. Cronje, Mike D. Panagos, Brian K. Reilly
Koedoe | Vol 50, No 1 | a137 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/koedoe.v50i1.137 | © 2008 Heath P. Cronje, Mike D. Panagos, Brian K. Reilly | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 21 February 2008 | Published: 10 December 2008

About the author(s)

Heath P. Cronje, Doornkloof Nature Reserve, South Africa
Mike D. Panagos, Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa
Brian K. Reilly, Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa

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Abstract

Floristic characteristics of the Andover Game Reserve (AGR) were surveyed using an area-based survey technique and classified according to the data recorded from 88 relevés, using the PHYTOTAB-PC software package. Three plant communities, of which two each contain two variants, were described and mapped. The plant communities and their causative environmental factors were validated through detrended- and canonical correspondence multivariate analyses. The plant communities of the AGR were found to typify the floristics associated with the catenal sequences located in undulating areas on granite. Broad-leaved savanna is located at the crest and upper mid-slopes while fine-leaved savanna occurs along the footslopes of the AGR. Seeplines, a characteristic occurrence along catenas, are found at the transitional zone between the upper broad- and lower fine-leaved savanna plant communities. This study forms the basis for the compilation of a revised ecological management plan for the Andover Game Reserve.

Keywords

Plant communities; PHYTOTAB-PC; catena; savanna; granitic soils

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