Abstract:
Traditional agroforestry has been recognised to contribute to biodiversity conservation;
however, biodiversity strategies often lack information about drivers of tree species diver sity loss, which is crucial for decision-making. Anthropogenic disturbance has positive
and negative efects on tree species richness and diversity. This study was conducted in
Vhembe Biosphere Reserve, Limpopo Province, and used distance from the nucleus of the
community to the forest as a parameter to assess tree species richness and diversity. Vege tation data were collected using three transects of 150 m in each distance level and sampled
a total area of 1000 m2
by sampling fve rectangular plots of 20 m2×10 m2
(200 m2
). Data
analysis was conducted using Chao1, PERMANOVA, nMDS, PERMDISP, DISTLIM,
dbRDA and SIMPER. The fndings are in consonant with distance decay of community
similarity hypotheses, with estimated tree species richness of 76, 93 and 95 species in an
immediate distance, intermediate distance and far distance, respectively. Moreover, the
highest species variation was observed at an intermediate distance, which indicates that
there is greater species composition at an intermediate distance compared to immediate
and far distances. The results confrm that the distance and associated factors have major
detrimental efects on tree species richness and biodiversity in traditional agroforestry land scapes. Harvesting of provisioning ecosystem services is found and known to be extremely
high in the study area. Efective interventions such as planting indigenous trees and con serving the existing vegetation must be implemented to reduce and halt overexploitation.
