A plant ecological study of the Rietvlei Nature Reserve, Gauteng Province

[摘要] English: This study was undertaken with the objective to identify and quantify differenthomogeneous management units on the Rietvlei Nature Reserve to facilitate moreeffective management as far as grazing utilization, burning and monitoring are concerned.Vegetation units had to be identified and mapped. From the communities differentmanagement units could be identified. The study area of 3 870 hectares is a proclaimednature reserve and is situated southeast of Pretoria in the Gauteng Province.A phytosociological study of the vegetation was done using the Braun-Blanquet method. Atotal of 184 plots were sampled and classified using the Braun-Blanquet method andTWINSPAN.This study revealed that the vegetation of the Rietvlei Nature Reserve could be dividedinto six main communities, each with a number of sub-communities and some withvariants.The communities identified were: Andropogon schirensis �?Aristida congestaCommunity, Gladiolus crassifolius �?Brachiaria serrata Community, Eragrostischloromelas - Setaria sphacelata var sphacelata Community, Eragrostis chloromelas -Cynodon dactylon Community, Setaria verticillata �?Phragmites australis Communityand Arundinella nepalensis �?Eleocharis dregeana Community.The different communities described were used as a basis for the representation of avegetation map of the reserve and the demarcation of management areas for the RietvleiNature Reserve.

[发布机构] University of the Free State