Abstract:
A flux tower with eddy covariance instruments was recently erected at Benfontein Nature Reserve (BNR) outside of Kimberley. An understanding of the landscape within the flux tower footprint, in this case natural
vegetation, is necessary to interpret the data collected by the eddy covariance instruments. The tower was
erected as part of the Expanded Freshwater and Terrestrial Environmental Observation Network (EFTEON)
infrastructure initiative to establish long-term monitoring platforms focused on socially relevant terrestrial
landscapes and their coupled hydrological systems. We sought to describe the vegetation within the flux
tower footprint to set a baseline of the vegetation in the landscape at the inception of the long-term monitoring of flux measurements at BNR. Woody vegetation was surveyed in five square 1 ha plots while the herbaceous layer was sampled across 105 circular plots following the Socio-Ecological Observatory for Southern
African Woodland (SEOSAW) protocol. Woody vegetation was quantified in terms of abundance, diversity
and biomass, together with Size Class Distribution (SCD) methods to describe the woody vegetation structure. The herbaceous layer was described by species count, basal cover, biomass, and diversity which was
assessed using the Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index. Five tree species, dominated by Vachellia erioloba, were
found in the plots. Recruits (0 and 1 m tall) were significantly more abundant than large trees (1.2 9.5 m
high). The SCD for the woody vegetation yielded a Type IIIa curve i.e. populations missing one or more size
classes, for all tree species except Ziziphus mucronata which yielded a Type IIIb curve representing a population missing small sized trees. The herbaceous layer was diverse, consisting of 10 grass and 32 forb species.
Schmidtia pappophoroides was the dominant grass species in terms of count, basal cover and aboveground
biomass. Herbaceous biomass was two times higher than that of woody vegetation, with the North plot contributing the highest biomass for herbaceous and woody vegetation. The results indicate that the vegetation
around the flux tower represents a wooded grassland, which is a type of a savanna. These vegetation data
will contribute to the interpretation of data collected by the flux tower instruments now and in the future.
Furthermore, long-term data collection in this reserve is needed to capture the woody vegetation dynamics
and its interaction with the herbaceous layer
