A Phytosociological survey of the vegetation of the North Western Orange Free State

Abstract

The vegetation of the northwestern Orange Free State was classified by means of the polythetic TWINSPAN and Braun - Blanquet procedures. Stratification was done according to land type and terrain form to enable efficient sampling. The classification of the floristic data was done for the different land types separately, resulting in four different phytosociological tables, representing the A, Band D land types as well as the hills and ridges of the northwestern Orange Free State. All identified plant communities were ecologically interpreted and described. The results of these classifications were incorporated with the Scheepers data from the Kroonstad area and the Du Preez data of the Vredefort Dome area into a synoptic table. The results obtained through this synthesis were successfully ecologically interpreted and forms the basis for a proposed syntaxonomical classification. Ecological/ floristically gradients were interpreted by means of DECORANA ordination.