The impact of the provision of water for game on the basal cover of the herbaceous vegetation around a dam in the Kruger National Park

Abstract

A line intercept survey was done on the herbaceous vegetation in permanently marked plots at distance intervals from the Wik-en-Weeg Dam, Kruger National Park, in 1973. The survey was repeated in 1990 so that changes in basal cover could be determined in relation to distance from the dam. Positive relationships with distance from the dam were found for the relative total percentage basal cover of the herbaceous vegetation, as well as for the relative basal cover of, respectively, grasses, forbs, decreasers and increasers. It was concluded that the provision of a permanent supply of drinking water for game in the Wik-en-Weeg Dam has had an impact on the nearby herbaceous community basal cover composition, as well as a negative impact on the basal cover of the herbaceous vegetation in the vicinity. The basal cover of the herbaceous stratum was more sensitive to the effect of the dam than parameters of the woody stratum.