Abstract:
A plant-ecological study was conducted in the grasslands of northern KwaZulu-Natal to
develop a better understanding of the distribution, structure and composition of the plant
communities found in the area. Plant communities were identified, classified and described in
terms of environmental factors, making use of the Braun-Blanquet method, the TWINSP ANclassifi
cation technique and the DECORANA ordination algorithm. Altogether 95 plant
communities were identified, comprising 800 plant species. A synthesis was subsequently
conducted on the complete data set consisting of all 95 plant communities, resulting in 20
vegetation types being recognized. The results will ultimately form part of a comprehensive
syntaxonomical and synecological synthesis of the entire Grassland Biome of South Africa.
Plant communities and other areas displaying a high degree of naturalness and/or species
richness were also selected for conservation purposes. Aerial photographs, derived from
different dates in the past, were analysed by means of the GIS programme IDRISI to
determine the extent and rate of bush encroachment into grassland within the study area. The
GIS-based analysis was further complemented by field surveys to determine the processes
involved in bush encroachment. The results clearly show that a fixed pattern of succession occurred with woody pioneer plants being the first to invade the grassland. Subsequent
developments embraced the establishment of further woody plant species, being characteristic
of higher seral stages, around the pioneer species until woody clusters would coalesce to form
closed woodlands in the end. A brief overview and discussion of grasslands in general is also
presented, dealing with issues such as origin and evolution, management, conservation and
research.
