n Ekologiese studie van Mopanie-veld noord van Soutpansberg

Abstract

The principle object of this study was to describe the composition and structure of the vegetation of Mopani -Veld ecologically by means of ordination techniques and, as far as possible, to relate these to environmental variation. In this study the vegetation was (a) classified subjectively according to the method of Acocks (1953), (b) species ordinated according to the technique described by Goff & Cottam (1967), (c) stands ordinated by the method of principle component analysis, and (d) multiple regressions according to Snedecor & Cochran (.1968). The results of this study can be summarized as follows: (1) Seven subjective plant communities were recognized and described. The three communities Colophospermum-Combretum-Commiphora, Colophospermum- Boscia rehmanniana and Commiphora-Terminalia prunioides comprised 60. 31, 14. 73 and 14. 95 percent respectively of the total area. (2) Species ordination with the aid of index iteration assigned to Colophospermum mopane the lowest species position index value in both the tree and shrub layers. This means that C. mopane is the specieswith the lowest ecological status. The assessment of species position indices showed a large gap between that of C. mopane and the other species. The ecological amplitude of C. mopane thus differs entirely from that of any other species. The same applies to the shrub layer.